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Fatty acids in fish and beef and their nutritional values: A review

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Fatty acids in fish and beef and their nutritional values: A review
K. A. Abbas *, A. Mohamed and B. Jamilah
Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor,
Malaysia. *e-mail: ali_kassim@hotmail.com

Received 7 July 2009, accepted 2 October 2009.

Abstract
This review aims to summarize the latest developments and recent knowledge regarding the fatty acids in fish and beef, their profiles and nutritional
values. The paper covered the types of different fatty acids such as unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially
the omega-3 in different fish species. The study also summarized the nutritional values of the fatty acids as compared to those in other animal species.
However, the strategies influencing the fatty acid composition of beef were also reflected. The study revealed that many fatty fishes were found as
excellent sources of UFA and PUFA, especially the omega-3. On the other hand, beef was proposed major source of saturated fat in a diet. The quality
attributes of beef meat such as tenderness, juiciness, and flavor intensity have been shown to be affected by the chemical properties and lipid content.
Moreover, increasing dietary omega-3 fatty acid intakes for potential health benefits for protecting against cardiovascular diseases was recommended.
This work may assist the researchers and scientists to have a clear picture about what have been achieved earlier and what critical work should be
conducted in future.

Key words: Fatty acids, fish, beef.

Introduction
Fatty acid is a chain of carbon atoms with an acid group
(COOH) at one end and the omega or methyl group (CH3) at
the other end. Each carbon atom in this chain forms four
bonds to link it to four other atoms. If a carbon is not bound
to four other atoms, double bonds are formed. Therefore, fatty
acids are categorized based on characteristics such as length,
the existence of double bonds and the arrangement of
hydrogen atoms in double bonds.
Short chain fats have mostly 4 - 7 carbon atoms and remain
liquid at colder temperature like fatty acids in milk. Medium
chain fatty acids have 8 - 12 carbon atoms and solidify in the
refrigerator like coconut oil. Long chain fatty acids that have
>13 carbon atoms usually remain solid at room temperature like
beef fats 1.
Many fatty fish species are known to be excellent dietary sources
of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) and polyunsaturated
fatty acids (PUFA), especially the omega-3 fatty acids,
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) 2.
The intake of the n-3 fatty acids has been relatively low in our
diet, mainly due to the low consumption of seafood, while the
intake of n-6 fatty acids from vegetable oil has been increasing.
Recommendations for increasing dietary omega-3 fatty acid intakes
for potential health benefits 3 have been proposed for protecting
against cardiovascular diseases 4-7 and against specific risk factors
for coronary heart disease (CHD).
Recently, several research works of different purposes were
aknowledged on fatty acids of fish 2, 8-12 and beef 13-17. Although
the scientific researches about the consumption amount of fish
and beef show the benefits of fish and beef fats on health the
dietary intake of these sources is over-sighted. This can be as a
result of lack of knowledge, therefore the aim of this review is to
compare fish fatty acids with those of meat to conclude a complete
result about their nutritional benefit. Accordingly, the present work
summarizes the following subtitles.
Fish fatty acids: Fish is considered to be the most important
source of EPA and DHA with the American Heart Association
recommending that about 1.0 g/day of EPA+DHA, or two servings
of fatty fish per week are required to reduce the risk of death from
CHD in the secondary prevention setting 6. Fish oils (Table 1) are
very different from vegetable oils and from animal fats in three
important respects: 1) a wider range of chain lengths (12-24
carbons), 2) higher degree of unsaturation (up to 4, 5 and 6
double bonds), 3) low level of odd-numbered and branched
chain fatty acids.
Content of lipids is 0.1-4.6 g per 100 g of edible fishes. This rate
can be high in lake trout, salmon, herring and mackerel and less in
sole and burbot 18. Table 2 shows the amount of some fatty acids
present in fish oil compared to oils and fats in plants and other
animal sources.
It is widely recognized that omega-3 fatty acids, especially highly
unsaturated long chain fatty acids with 20-22 carbons and 5 or 6
double bonds, particularly DHA (docosahexaenoic acid, 22:6n-3)
and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid, 20:5n-3), are important in human
nutrition. The potential of these compounds in the prevention of
certain cardiovascular conditions and other diseases has been

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.7 (3&4), July-October 2009 37

 Table 1. Complete list of fatty acids present in fish oils. comprising of C14:0 to C22:6n-3, that exceeded a minimum of 0.1%
12:0 18:0 21:0 total fatty acids in a minimum of one fish sample, were identified
18: Branched 21:5 (n-2) and compared between different species 2. In general, all species
14:0 18:1 contained high proportions of n-3 HUFA, predominantly C20:5n-
14:1 18:2 (n-9), (n-6), (n-4) 22:0 3 (EPA) and C22:6n-3 (DHA). Fatty acid contents in the lean and
18:3 (n-6), (n-3) 22:1 (n-11)
low-fat fish (e.g. <4%), such as walleye pollock, smelt, canary
15:0 Branched 18:4 (n-3) 22:2
15:0 22:3 (n-3) rockfish and pink salmon, followed a relative pattern with PUFA >
19: Branched 22:4 (n-3) MUFA > SFA. An exception to this was with Pacific hake, which
16:0 19:0 22:5 (n-3) contained a higher (P < 0.05) amount of SFA than that of MUFA.
16:1 19:1 22:6 (n-3) The sardine fish, categorised as a medium-fat fish, contained a
16:2 (n-7), (n-4)
16:3 (n-4), (n-3) 20:0 23:0 different pattern of fatty acid composition altogether from similar
16:4 (n-4), (n-1) 20:1 fat containing fish species, as evidenced by the relatively greater
20:2 (n-9),(n-6) 24:0 PUFA compared to MUFA (e.g. PUFA > SFA > MUFA) 2.
17:0 Branched 20:3 (n-6),(n-3) 24:1
17:0 20:4 (n-6), (n-3)
Saturated fatty acid signatures: Saturated fatty acids (SFAs)
17:1 20:4 (n-3)
The table illustrates the relative number of fatty acids that may be present in fish oils. represented only one quarter of the total fatty acids, with palmitic
acid (C16:0) being the most concentrated. Pacific hake contained
Table 2. Fatty acids (% total fatty acid) of fish oil compared the greatest (21.7±1.95% , P < 0.05) and capelin the smallest (10.59
to different oil sources. ± 1.11%, P < 0.05) proportions of palmitic acid. These findings are
Oil/fat % Sunflower Olive Butter Fish Lard in agreement with other studies 20 from fish caught from waters off
oil oil fat oil the Pacific coast to the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. Of further
Saturated 12 15 65 22 43 interest was the fact that stearic acid (C18:0), which was present
Monounsaturated 20 72 32 57 46 in relatively smaller proportions (1.06 to 7.18%) in all Pacific species
Omega-6 68 13 3 1 11
Omega-3 0 0 0 20 0
examined, was present in a greater proportion in the lean and low-
Adapted from Hamilton and Rice 18. fat species compared to fatty fish, such as herring and capelin.
Our results of proportionally lower SFA content from fish collected
announced. The benefits of n-3 PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) in colder waters of the Pacific are in direct contrast to findings for
are associated with the synthesis of eicosanoids such as many fish species caught in oceans with warmer temperatures 21,
22
prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes. EPA and DHA .
are typically found in marine fish and originate from the
phytoplankton and seaweed that are part of their food chain. Cold Polyunsaturated fatty acid signatures: Negative correlation found
water fish such as herring, salmon, mackerel and others are the between the fat content and the PUFA concentration in different
main sources of n-3 HUFA (highly unsaturated fatty acid). Variations Pacific fish species agrees well with results obtained from fish
in contents and composition of fatty acids occur due to caught off the Australian coast (e.g. Queensland) 21. Levels of
fluctuations in the quality and amount of food available, especially total PUFA have also been reported to be higher in low-fat gadoids
phytoplankton. The composition of the edible portion of fish is (Northern cod (G. morhua) had 58% of PUFAs, whereas Atlantic
affected by many factors, such as species, sex, sexual maturity, herring and capelin had 20%) 23. All species examined in this
size, place of capture, water temperature, feeding and season 19. study contained higher proportions of n-3 than n-6 PUFA. The n-
Generally, fish species from the Pacific coast have a relatively 3 PUFAs DHA (C22:6n-3) and EPA (C20:5n-3) predominated and
high proportion of n-3 highly polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 accounted for over 80% of the total n-3 PUFAs (Table 3). The
HUFAs), of which more than 80% is by C20:5n-3 (EPA) and proportion of DHA varied widely between fish species and was
C22:6n-3 (DHA), with species-specific and lower proportions of much higher in the lean and low-fat fish (from 18 to 29%) than in
oleic acid (C18:1n-9) and palmitic acid (C16:0) also dominating. the fattier species of herring and capelin (from 8 to 10%). The
The MUFA contents of fish are lower (P < 0.05) in the lipids of lean highest DHA content (e.g. 32%), however, was found in sardine.
and low-fat fish compared to those of fattier species. In contrast, Similar findings have been reported for Japanese sardine 24. The
higher (P < 0.05) proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids researchers 24 suggested that the fatty acid composition of sardine
(PUFAs) exist in the low-fat species with DHA contents ranging is considerably influenced by the source of ingested plankton. In
from 18 to 29% in the low-fat fish and from 8 to 10% in the fattier comparison, the EPA content varied to a lesser extent between
fish, such as herring and capelin. fish species, ranging from 8 to 13% in the lean and low-fat fish and
Expressing the same fatty acid content data in terms of absolute between 8 and 11% in the fattier fish. Again, sardine showed the
amount of fatty acids (e.g. FA g/100 g wet tissue) showed that highest concentration of EPA (11.4%) among the fatty fish group.
both EPA and DHA contents in the flesh of pollock and hake were The percentage of DHA content exceeded those of EPA in all species
indeed many fold lower than those found in fatty fish, such as studied, with the ratio of DHA/EPA ranging from 1.5 to 2.4%
herring. The findings confirm that it is important that both the in the low-fat species and even lower for the more fatty fish (around
total lipid content and the fatty acid composition of these Pacific 1 for herring and 1.3 for capelin). An exception of this was the
fish food sources be considered when making evaluations on the sardine that had a distinctively high ratio of DHA/EPA of 2.8.
nutritional quality. Flesh from different species of the Gadidae, for example, Southwest
The composition of the fatty acids in the total lipids of different Atlantic hake (Merluccius hubbsi), has four times the amount of
species studied are presented in Table 3. Thirty fatty acids, DHA (e.g. 25.7%) compared to EPA (e.g. 6.3%) 20. Similarly, much

38 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.7 (3&4), July-October 2009

Table 3. Typical contents (%) of fatty acids in oil of some fish species 2.

Oil
Fatty acid Capelin Herring Sprat Norway Mackerel Sand Menhaden Sardine/ Horse Anchovy
pout eel pilchard mackerel
14:0 7 7 - 6 8 7 9 8 8 9
16:0 10 16 16 13 14 15 20 18 18 19
16:1 10 6 7 5 7 8 12 10 8 9
18:1 14 13 16 14 13 9 11 13 11 13
20:1 17 13 10 11 12 15 1 4 5 5
22:1 14 20 14 12 15 16 0.2 3 8 2
20:5 8 5 6 8 7 9 14 18 13 17
22:6 6 6 9 13 8 9 8 9 10 9
(Total principals) (86) (86) (78) (82) (84) (88) (75) (83) (81) (83)
Iodine value range 94/164 95/160 125/147 c.140 136/167 144/173 150/200 141/212 158/193 178/200
Saturated 19 26 19 20 24 18 33 29 30 33
Monounsaturated 57 54 47 42 47 47 24 28 32 29
Pentaunsaturated 8 6 7 8 7 10 17 20 15 18
Hexaunsaturated 6 6 9 13 8 9 8 9 10 9

higher levels of DHA (25.9 and 22.8%) than that of EPA (13.7 and subcutaneous fat. Fat content varies widely depending on the
13.7%) have been reported in the total lipid of whole Pacific cod cut and degree of trimming. Lean beef has a low IMF content,
(Gadus macrocephalus) 25 and whole Atlantic cod (Gadus typically 2-5% in many countries. Table 5 summarizes the fat
morhua)26, respectively. The relatively high level of DHA and the content and composition of beef compared to fats from other
high DHA/EPA ratio in the Pacific fish species appear to be an animals. Marbling fat is an important meat quality trait in terms of
inherent characteristic of these low-fat fish, possibly due to a juiciness, aroma and tenderness. The fat depot is of most interest
characteristically greater affinity to retain DHA. This common in relation to fatty acid composition and human health. It refers to
finding in many marine organisms reflects the low levels of C18:3n- the white flecks or streaks of adipose tissue between the bundles
3 in natural diets. According to the literature 27, the marine food of muscle fibres. It is thus closely linked to IMF content. Flavour
web is dominated by an abundance of n-3 HUFA (e.g. C20:5n-3 score markedly increases with increasing IMF content above 4-
and C22:6n-3) and a much lesser amount of C18:2n-6 and C18:3n- 5% 32. Intramuscular fat consists on average 0.45-0.48, 0.35-0.45
3 PUFAs. The n-6 PUFAs were present at less than 5% in all the and up to 0.05% of total fatty acids as SFA, monounsaturated
Pacific species studied. The most abundant n-6 PUFA was linoleic fatty acids (MUFA) and PUFA, respectively. The PUFA:SFA (P:S,
acid (C18:2n-6) (range from 0.85 to 1.5%), followed by arachidonic taken as (18:2 + 18:3)/(14:0 +16:0 + 18:0) ratio for beef is typically
acid (C20:4n-6) (0.5% to 1.95%). Although occurring at a very low low at around 0.1 33, except for double muscled animals which are
concentration, a higher relative percentage of C20:4n-6 was found very lean (<1% IMF) where P:S ratios are typically 0.5-0.7 34. The
in the lipid of the low and intermediate fatty fish (e.g. hake, pollock, n-6: n-3 ratio for beef is beneficially low, typically less than 3,
smelt and rock fish) than that present in the fatty fish (capelin and reflecting the considerable amounts of beneficial n-3 PUFA in
herring). This finding can be explained by the observation that beef, particularly 18:3n-3 and the long chain PUFA, EPA and DHA.
pelagic and demersal species feed predominantly on the pelagic The predominant SFA are 14:0 (myristic acid), 16:0 (palmitic acid)
phytoplankton food web, which contains low levels of C20:4n-6 28. and 18:0 (stearic acid), the latter representing 0.3 of total SFA. SFA
An earlier publication 29 reported that most of the Pacific fish influence plasma cholesterol, though 18:0 is regarded as neutral
species examined were pelagic or pelagic demersal fish that feed in this regard 35 and 16:0 is less potent than 14:0 36. Linoleic and α-
predominantly on the pelagic food web, and therefore would linolenic acids are the main PUFA while oleic acid (18:1n-9) is the
exhibit low levels of C20:4n-6. The EPA-rich and C20:4n-6-poor most prominent MUFA, with the remainder of the MUFA occurring
phytoplankton is the major PUFA food source for these species. mainly as cis and trans isomers of 18:1. The PUFA and MUFA are
The consumption of foods containing relatively high levels of generally regarded as beneficial for human health and there is
n-3 PUFA and lower amounts of n-6 PUFA, thus yielding a high evidence of beneficial effects of trans-vaccenic acid (TVA). Rats
n3/n6 ratio is favourable for human health 30 and has been used as given supplements of CLA cis-9, trans-11 would indicate that TVA
an index for comparing the nutritional values of fish oils 31. The
oils of all Pacific fish species studied herein contained a high
Table 4. Absolute EPA and DHA concentration and n-3/n-6
n3/n6 ratio, e.g. ranging from 6.4 to 18.6 (Table 4). Walleye pollock
ratio of different Pacific fish species 2.
had the highest value, followed by sardine, canary rock fish, pink
salmon, Pacific hake, surf smelt, herring and capelin as shown in Fish EPA DHA n-3/n-6
Pacific hake (fillet) 0.09±0.01a 0.15±0.01a 8.42±1.05ab
Table 4. Interestingly, herring and capelin were the two Pacific
Walleye pollock (fillet) 0.10±0.01a 0.24±0.01b 18.66±1.51d
fish species that had low n3/n6 ratios (e.g. less than 8), despite Surf smelt 0.36±0.01b 0.57±0.06c 7.80±1.16a
having greater lipid contents than other fish species 2. Canary rock fish (fillet) 0.35±0.02b 0.54±0.02c 10.00±0.92bc
Pink salmon (fillet) 0.29±0.03c 0.68±0.04d 9.55±0.53b
Beef fatty acids: Fat in beef is present as membrane fat (as Capelin 0.36±0.03b 0.46±0.01e 6.41±1.44a
Sardine 0.66±0.06d 1.90±0.20g 11.81±1.68c
phospholipid), intermuscular fat (IMF, between the muscles) and Pacific herring (fillet) 0.85±0.08e 0.83±0.15d 7.35±0.74a

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.7 (3&4), July-October 2009 39

 Table 5. Total fat and fatty acids content in beef compared to meat of Percentage of fatty acids in beef and effects on human
some other animals. body: About 80% of the fatty acid in beef is composed of
Beef Pork Lamb Veal Chicken
palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0) and oleic acid (C18:1). The
broiler remaining 20% is distributed among 30 different fatty
Total fat (g) 9.91 9.44 9.52 6.58 7.41 acids. Oleic acid (C18:1) is the primary monounsaturated
Cholesterol (mg) 86.00 85.00 92.00 118.00 89.00 fatty acid in beef and accounts for about 33% of the fatty
Fatty acids acid in beef. Palmitic acid (C16:0) is a saturated fatty acid
Fat, total (g) 3.79 3.34 3.40 1.84 2.04
C10 0.01 0.01 0.02 --- --- accounting for about 27% of the fatty acids in beef. There
C12 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.02 is very strong evidence that palmitic acid raises serum
C14 0.28 0.12 0.30 0.12 0.06 cholesterol levels 45 and this occurs predominantly by
C16 2.25 2.07 1.83 1.07 1.41 increasing bad cholesterol (LDL) levels. This fatty acid
C18 1.22 1.07 1.17 0.63 0.49
accounts for most of the cholesterol-raising activity from
Mon, total (g) 4.17 4.22 4.17 2.35 2.66 beef, thereby increasing the risk of atherosclerosis,
C16:1 0.35 0.31 0.28 0.21 0.35 cardiovascular disease and stroke 46. Stearic acid (18:0) is
C18:1 3.80 3.78 3.86 2.11 2.22 a saturated fatty acid accounting for about 18% of the
C20:1 0.01 0.09 0.03 0.03 --- fatty acid in beef. Several studies have shown that the
Poly, total (g) 0.34 0.71 0.62 0.59 1.69
stearic acid effect on total cholesterol is minimal and not
C18:2 0.27 0.61 0.51 0.45 1.37 detrimental to human health 47. For practical purposes,
C18:3 0.03 0.02 0.06 0.03 0.07 stearic acid is essentially neutral in its effects on serum
C20:4 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.11 0.11 total cholesterol, similar to oleic acid 45. Beef is also a
source of two saturated fatty acids, lauric (C12:0) and
F. acids, % total fat
Saturated 38.24 35.38 35.71 27.96 27.53 myristic (C14:0), that are related to human health issues.
Monounsaturated 42.08 44.70 43.80 35.71 35.90 Lauric and myristic fatty acids are responsible for raising
Polyunsaturated 3.43 7.52 6.51 8.97 22.81 bad cholesterol levels in blood serum 45 and have been
Adapted from USDA 39.
shown to be strongly correlated with early heart attack 48.
However, the percentages of lauric (less than 1%) and
(the precursor of CLA in tissue and which is the major trans fatty myristic (2-3%) acids in beef are small 49. Fatty acids with an odd
acid in beef) could also add to the beneficial effects of CLA cis-9, number of carbon atoms such as pentadecanoic (C15:0) and
trans-11 on cancer 13 and atherogenesis 14. Beef also contains heptadecanoic acid (C17:0) (less than 1and 1-2% of fatty acids in
small amounts of the long chain C20/22 PUFA, EPA and DHA and beef, respectively) are produced primarily from accumulation of a
recent research has demonstrated that red meat is an important 3-carbon fatty acid end product that occurs due to the lack of
source of these fatty acids for man 15. Dannenberger et al. 37 reported vitamin B12. Odd-chain fatty acids can build up in membrane lipids
10 isomers of CLA in beef with CLA cis-9, trans-11 representing of nervous tissue, resulting in altered myelin integrity and
approximately70% of total CLA isomers. Biological effects have demyelination, leading eventually to impaired nervous system
been widely investigated for two of these isomers. The functioning 50.
anticarcinogenic and antiatherogenic effects of cis-9, trans-11 and Elaidic acid (C18:1) (2-5% of the fatty acid in beef), is a
the anti-obesity effects of trans-10, cis-12 have been well monounsaturated trans-fatty acid, which can raise bad cholesterol
documented 38. (LDL) in serum 51. Trans-fatty acids, as mention above, may behave
similar to saturated fatty acids. Studies have shown that foods
Strategies influencing the fatty acid composition of beef: Genetic enriched in C18:1-trans resulted in higher bad cholesterol (LDL)
and nutritional approaches have been widely studied in relation levels compared with C18:1-cis 47. Although C18:1-trans raised
to fatty acid composition of beef, although it is acknowledged bad cholesterol (LDL) equivalent to saturated fatty acids, it had
that genetic factors generally provide smaller differences than no effects on good cholesterol (HDL) 47. Other monosaturated
dietary factors 40. Nevertheless, as concluded 40, even though fatty acids are palmitoleic acid (C16:1) (about 2-3%), transvaccenic
breed differences are generally small they do reflect differences in acid (C18:1 trans-11) (3-4%) and vaccenic acid(C18:1 cis-11) (1-
underlying gene expression or enzymes involved in fatty acid 2%) 52. The major important polyunsaturated fatty acids found in
synthesis. Stearoyl CoA desaturase (delta-9- desaturase) mRNA beef are linoleic acid (C18:2) (about 3.5%), alpha-linolenic acid
expression level was related to MUFA percentage in Holstein (C18:3) (1.5%), arachidonic acid (C20:4) (about 1%),
Japanese Black cattle 41 and SNP in Japanese Black cattle which eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (C20:5) (<1%), docosanpetaenoic
contributed to higher MUFA percentage and lower melting point acid (DPA-3) (C22:5) (<1%) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
in IMF 42. Of particular note is the association between fatness (C22:6) (<1%) 52.
and P:S ratio. As the content of SFA and MUFA increases faster
with increasing fatness then does the content of PUFA, the relative Conclusions
proportion of PUFA and the P:S ratio decrease with increasing The fatty acids of fish and beef are different in terms of types and
fatness. Hence the low fat content (<1%) explains the beneficially nutritional values. Fish species are excellent dietary sources of
high P:S ratio (0.5-0.6) in the double- muscled Belgian Blue bulls36. highly unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid as well,
In contrast the n-6:n-3 ratio in meat of double-muscled Belgian especially the omega-3 fatty acids. Fish species from the Pacific
Blue bulls is high (5-6) but may be improved by using the nutritional coast have relatively high proportion of n-3 highly polyunsaturated
approaches 43, 44. fatty acids (n-3 HUFAs), of which more than 80% is by C20:5n-3
(EPA) and C22:6n-3. About 1.0 g per day of omega-3 (EPA+DHA)
40 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.7 (3&4), July-October 2009
or two servings of fatty fish per week are required to reduce the
risk of death from coronary heart disease. Fish oils are very different
from vegetable oils and from animal fats in three important
respects. In beef the fat content varies widely depending on the
cut and degree of trimming marbling fat is an important meat quality
and highly related to juiciness, aroma and tenderness and it is of
most interest in relation to human health.
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