Nutritional composition and safety of Patagonotothenramsayi, a discard species from Patagonian Shelf

Nutritional profiling of Eurasian woodcock meat: chemical composition and myoglobin characterization

BACKGROUND

Meat from birds is a rich source of proteins for the human diet. In this framework, Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola L.), a medium-small wading bird hunted as game in many Eurasian countries, is considered one of the best meats for culinary purposes. Since the nutritional composition of Eurasian woodcock meat has not yet been reported, we decided to determine the nutritional profile of S. rusticola meat.

RESULTS

Macronutrient components (proteins, lipids and fatty acids) were determined, as well as free and total amino acids, and compared with those of the common pheasant. Eurasian woodcock meat contains high levels of proteins and essential amino acids. The levels of unsaturated fatty acids represent a great contribution to the total lipid amount. Among polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid (C18:2, n-6) is the major essential fatty acid. Finally, we report the characterization of myoglobin (Mb) from Eurasian woodcock.

CONCLUSION

The data revealed that meat from this bird could be a good source of quality raw proteins because of its amino acid composition, and it had a low lipid content. On the other hand, Mb characterization might be of benefit to the meat industry, by providing useful information for the determination of species-specific differences in meat from birds. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Hydroxytyrosol prevents oxidative deterioration in foodstuffs rich in fish lipids

Hydroxytyrosol, a natural phenolic compound obtained from olive oil byproduct, was characterized as an antioxidant in three different foodstuffs rich in fish lipids: (a) bulk cod liver oil (40% of omega-3 PUFAs), (b) cod liver oil-in-water emulsions (4% of omega-3 PUFAs), and (c) frozen minced horse mackerel ( Trachurus trachurus) muscle. Hydroxytyrosol was evaluated at different concentration levels (10, 50, and 100 ppm), and its antioxidant capacity was compared against that of a synthetic phenolic, propyl gallate. Results proved the efficiency of hydroxytyrosol to inhibit the formation of lipid oxidation products in all tested food systems, although two different optimal antioxidant concentrations were observed. In bulk oil and oil-in-water emulsions, a higher oxidative stability was achieved by increasing the concentration of hydroxytyrosol, whereas an intermediate concentration (50 ppm) showed more efficiency, delaying lipid oxidation in frozen minced fish muscle. The endogenous depletion of alpha-tocopherol and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFAs) was also inhibited by supplementing hydroxytyrosol in minced muscle; however, the consumption of the endogenous total glutathione was not efficiently reduced by either hydroxytyrosol or propyl gallate. A concentration of 50 ppm of hydroxytyrosol was best to maintain a longer initial level of alpha-tocopherol (approximately 300 microg/g of fat), whereas both 50 and 100 ppm of hydroxytyrosol were able to preserve completely omega-3 PUFAs. Hydroxytyrosol and propyl gallate showed comparable antioxidant activities in emulsions and frozen fish muscle, and propyl gallate exhibited better antioxidant efficiency in bulk fish oil.