Copyright 2010 Accademia dei Georgofili
The contribution of aquaculture to the demand of fish products is ever increasing. High quality products from aquaculture should warrant safety requisites to consumers, ensure the traceability of each step of the production chain and should, as far as possible, maintain the organoleptic and nutritional characteristics typical of any species. The study of the nutritional and sensory profiles of fish products should be considered not like a mere acquisition of data but as the basis of a correct information to consumers. This latter aspect is particularly relevant since fish products represent in the human diet an important source of mineral elements, protein of high biological value and polyunsaturated fatty acids, mainly belonging to the n-3 series like the eicosapentaenoic acid (C 20:5) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6). The amount of these fatty acids in fish muscle is highly affected by its diet composition. In the recent years the evolution towards a sustainable aquaculture has brought a deep modification to the chemical composition of reared fish. In particular the fatty acid profile of fish muscle has changed in response to the feed composition. In most cases our experimental studies have highlighted an increment of n-6 fatty acids at the expense of n-3 fatty acids. With the development of organic aquaculture protocols the increment of plant meals in feed formulations is confirmed and issues like consumers’ safety and quality of products are becoming of growing interest. At present it becomes necessary to optimize the different production steps and to identify specific indicators of product quality able to define the “total quality” of fish products.
