From Krill to Whale: an overview of marine fatty acids and lipid compositions

In this study, fatty acid compositions of phyto-zooplankton (calanoid copepod species, krill…) to fish species (mackerel, sardine anchovy, salmon, shark) are presented. Marine oils are essentially used for their high long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), namely eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) for their good health impact. Due to health benefits of the omega-3, weekly fish consumption is today recommended by many authorities (FDA, AFSSA…). Capture fisheries and aquaculture supplied the world with about 110 million tonnes of food fish in 2006 (FAO 2009), providing an apparent per capita supply of 16.7 kg. It is well established that the lipid composition of fish muscle is influenced by the diet and also depends on the effects of environmental factors (temperature, oxygen concentration in sea water) and endogenous medium (physiological state and individual variability). In general, cultured fish have been reported to have a softer texture than wild fish, which has been related to the differences in muscle structure, proximate composition and nutritional value. New applications of typical compounds (wax esters, squalene …) or lipid classes (glycerophospholipids, ether glycerolipids, sphingophospholipids …) as cosmetics, functional foods and dietary supplements will become very important in the near future with nano-structured drug carriers in pharmaceutical and biomedical areas