Impact of Dietary Oil Source on the Shelf-Life of Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata)

ABSTRACT

Gilthead seabream were fed two diets containing 100% fish oil (FO) or a 75% vegetable oil blend (VO) (50/50 soybean and rapeseed oil) in order to study the effect on shelf life. The fish were stored at 4 ± 1ºC for 0, 7, 14, and 21 days. Physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory analyses were performed. The fatty acid composition of muscle reflected the profile of dietary lipids. A smaller quantity of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) in the VO group resulted in lower lipid oxidation. In this group, lower thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values were observed during the storage and an increase in saturated fatty acid (SFAs) occurred later than in the group FO. Higher water holding capacity (WHC) of muscle was also observed in the VO group. A higher redness (a* value) was observed in the VO group, although discoloration occurred with the same intensity in both groups. Despite the differences among groups observed in psychrophilic and Pseudomonas counts and in some sensory attributes, shelf-life was equal for both groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Sparus aurata
• quality
• shelf-life
• fish oil
• vegetable oil

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grants from the project “Characterization of quality in farmed fish” financed by Planes Nacionales de Acuicultura of JACUMAR (Spain). The study was also partially sponsored by the IMIDA grant program.