Proximate and fatty acid composition of cooked South African Cape snoek (Thyrsites atun)

Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Academy of Science of South Africa
Abstract
Cape snoek (Thyrsites atun) is an important source of protein for people in South Africa; however, nutritional information thereof is limited. The proximate and fatty acid compositions of raw and cooked (80 °C) snoek muscles were determined according to official AOAC methods. The mean moisture, ash, total lipids and protein for raw snoek were 72.8±1.86%, 1.3±0.09%, 4.0±1.16 and 21.5±1.35%, respectively. Cape snoek is very high in palmitic acid (24.65±1.43%), oleic acid (18.21±2.64%), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 9.11±2.06%) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 19.70±3.25%). With the exception of total lipids, cooking significantly reduced moisture (69.40±2.03%) and ash (1.12±0.12%), and increased protein (24.47±1.39%) content. It is concluded that Cape snoek is very high in protein and can be classified as a low-fat fish which is rich in EPA and DHA.
Description
CITATION: Henning, S. S. & Hoffman, L. C. 2017. Proximate and fatty acid composition of cooked South African Cape snoek (Thyrsites atun). South African Journal of Science, 113((5/6), Art. #2016-0161, doi:10.17159/sajs.2017/20160161.
The original publication is available at http://sajs.co.za
Keywords
Cape snoek, Thyrsites atun (Cape snoek), Thyrsites atun (Cape snoek) -- Protein content, Fish -- Nutritional quality, Fish as food
Citation
Henning, S. S. & Hoffman, L. C. 2017. Proximate and fatty acid composition of cooked South African Cape snoek (Thyrsites atun). South African Journal of Science, 113((5/6), Art. #2016-0161, doi:10.17159/sajs.2017/20160161