Fatty acid and proximate composition of bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) muscle with regard to plasma lipids

The composition of tail muscle fatty acids from wild and cultured bluefin tuna reared on a diet based on herring and sardine, along with the plasma lipid profile of the farmed individuals, was determined. The total lipid content of farmed bluefin in this study was 0.922 g/100 g or 3.49 g of saturated fatty acids (SAFA), 4.48 g of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), 2.58 g polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) n‐3 and 0.37 g of PUFA n‐6 fatty acids; for wild specimens, it was 0.920 g/100 g, or 2.85 g of SAFA, 4.82 g of MUFA, 2.78 g PUFA n‐3 and 0.27 g of PUFA n‐6 fatty acids. The major fatty acids in this study were 16:0; 16:1, n‐7; 18:1, n‐9 and DHA 22:6, n‐3 acids. The sum of these major components accounted for more than 57% and 80% of the total fatty acids in all the samples of farmed and wild tuna respectively. No significant differences in the proximate composition were demonstrated between farmed and wild samples, except for the energy value, in favour of the farmed tuna. Statistically, glucose tends to increase together with cholesterol (CHOL) and plasma triglyceride, as for these pairs, it showed positive correlation coefficients and P>0.05. Some measured tuna metabolites demonstrated strong mutual correlations, especially GLU, CHOL and TRIG, which are crucial factors in the lipid profile of animals.