INTRODUCTION Fatty fish such as sardines. are a natural source of high-quality protein and essential fatty

acids in human diet Fish lipids contain long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA), of which

eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) play a vital role in human nutrition and health promotion. such as:

cardio-protective effects, important positive effects on immune function and inflammation processes, may be beneficial in preventing asthma in children, as well as in prevention and

treatment of epilepsy or even cancer cachexia. During canning process, sterilization step assures the safety of the product and it is adjusted

to different coating media of the product; however during high temperature treatment (>115 ºC) changes of nutritive composition, especially fatty acid composition can be substantial.

PROXIMATE COMPOSITION, FATTY ACIDS PROFILE AND NUTRIOTIONAL VALUE OF DIFFERENT CANNED SARDINES

PRODUCED IN CROATIA

Tanja Bogdanović1, Vida Šimat2, Jelka Pleadin3, Ana Vulić3, Sandra Petričević1, Marijana Blažić4

MATERIAL & METHODS Nine commercially available canned sardine products with different coating media (spicy vegetable sauce, sunflower oil, vegetable oil, tomato sauce, sunflower oil with lemon, olive oil, vegetable sauce, oil with chili peppers and escabeche sauce), all produced in Croatia, were investigated. Fatty acids were determined by a capillary gas chromatography using flame ionization detection. Nutritional quality of canned sardines was accessed as:

atherogenic index (AI, showing the inhibition of the aggregation of plaque and diminishing the levels of esterified fatty acid. cholesterol. and phospholipids. thereby preventing the appearance of micro- and macro- coronary diseases): AI = (C12:0 + 4 × C14:0 + C16:0) / (Sum MUFAs + Sum PUFAs);

thrombogenic index (TI, showing the tendency to form clots in the blood vessels): TI = [(C14:0 + C16:0 + C18:0) / (0.5 × Sum MUFAs + 0.5 × Sum n-6 PUFAs + 3 × Sum n-3 PUFAs + (n-3/n-6)].

CONCLUSIONS Fatty acid profile and nutritive value differs between caned sardines products regarding different coating media Amounts of dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids should be distinguished for fish products when making dietary recommendations since these two classes of PUFAs are metabolically and functionally distinct and have opposing physiological functions. Considering the recommended daily intake of n-3 PUFAs is 0.45 g per day for a healthy adult, in a single 125 g canned sardine the amount of PUFAs (n-3) ranges from 0.21 to 2.45 g, depending of the coating media. When fresh sardines are not available, canned products are, from a nutritional point of view, recommended to be consumed.

Objectives: To investigate proximate composition and fatty acid profile of nine commercial canned sardine products produced in Croatia and to estimate the nutritive value of canned sardines in different coating media through health lipid indices (atherogenic and thrombogenic).

Adriatic sardine (Sardina pilchardus, W.)

FAs (gFA/100g of edible portion)

spicy vegetable

sauce

sunflower oil

vegetable oil

tomato sauce

sunflower oil with lemon

olive oil

vegetable sauce

oil with chili

peppers

escabeche sauce

SFA 3.66 3.56 6.86 3.07 6.77 3.90 3.66 4.67 1.79

MUFA 9.29 6.16 6.71 3.41 6.92 14.88 9.16 14.65 3.67

PUFA 10.02 11.60 13.08 6.96 13.55 2.20 9.99 11.33 5.91

PUFA/SFA 2,74 3,26 1,91 2,27 2,00 0,57 2,73 2,43 3,36

EPA 0.00 0.41 0.49 0.54 0.33 0.25 0.06 0.08 0.00

DHA 0.12 0.99 1.29 1.35 0.88 0.66 0.21 0.00 0.00

∑ n-6 9,85 10,10 11,17 5,00 12,24 1,21 9,68 11,25 5,91

∑ n-3 0,17 1,50 1,90 1,96 1,32 0,99 0,31 0,08 0,00

n-3/n-6 0.02 0.15 0.17 0.39 0.11 0.82 0.03 0.01 0.00

PI* 0.06 0.64 0.50 1.00 0.36 0.34 0.12 0.03 0.00

AI 0.12 0.19 0.23 0.33 0.20 0.20 0.12 0.15 0.15

TI 0.32 0.26 0.37 0.27 0.39 0.31 0.31 0.30 0.28

Moisture 53.90

Protein 16.29

Lipid 25.51

Ash 2.55

NaCl 1.75

Moisture 54.97 Protein

19.00

Lipid 23.77

Ash 2.26

NaCl 1.77

Moisture 51.28

Protein 16.98

Lipid 29.69

Ash 2.05

NaCl 1.33

Moisture 62.47

Protein 18.75

Lipid 15.02

Ash 2.44

NaCl 1.22

Moisture 49.29

Protein 18.24

Lipid 30.28

Ash 2.23

NaCl 1.32

Moisture 50.43

Protein 18.42

Lipid 25.35

Ash 3.06

NaCl 1.49

Moisture 55.92

Protein 15.35

Lipid 23.31

Ash 2.58

NaCl 1.49

Moisture 51.65

Protein 19.57

Lipid 23.88

Ash 3.35

NaCl 1.08

Moisture 56.01

Protein 19.47

Lipid 21.90

Ash 2.03

NaCl 1.16

Fig & Table: Proximate composition (%) and NaCl content; Main fatty acids (g FA/100g edible portion) of nine canned sardine products in different coating media.

RESULTS

The lipid content of different products ranged 12.88-34.05 % and the fatty acids composition contained 15.20-25.97 % saturated (SFA), 25.10-70.08 % monounsaturated (MUFA) and 10.35-51.49 % polyunsaturated acids (PUFA). The main SFA nad MUFA were C16:0 and C18:2(n-6) in all the investigated sardine products with the difference of canned sardine in olive oil characterized by prevalence of C18:1(n-9) fatty acid. The proportions of n-3 PUFAs of investigated canned products (ranged from 0.25 % to 14.52 %) were lower than n-6 PUFAs (ranged from 5.76 % to 50.96 %). The dominant PUFAs (n-3) were EPA C20:5(n-3) and DHA C22:6(n-3). *The polyene index (PI): (C20:5 + C22:6)/C16:0) was used as a measure of polyunsaturated fatty acid damage during sterilization process.