Comparison of proximate and fatty acid composition of the flesh of wild and cultured fish species

The proximate and fatty acid compositions of the flesh of cultured and wild common dentex (Dentex dentex), brown meagre (Sciaena umbra) and sharp-snout sea bream (Diplodus puntazzo) were evaluated. In all batches, cultured fish had higher values of fat contents. The lipids of cultured sharp-snout sea bream contained significantly (p<0.05) higher proportions of 18:1n-9cis, 20:1 n-9, 22:1 n-9, 18:2n-6cis and 22:2cis than the wild form. In addition, cultured common dentex contained significantly (p<0.05) higher proportions of 14:0, 20:1n-9, 18:2n-6cis, 20:5n-3cis and 22:6n-3. For these two species, the total polyenoic fatty acids content and the n-3/n-6 ratio were higher in the cultured than in the wild forms. Cultured brown meagre contained significantly (p<0.05) higher proportions of 14:0, 20:0, 16:1, 18:1n-9cis, 20:1n-9, 22:1 n-9, 24:1 n-9, 18:2n-6cis, 20:5n-3cis and 22:6n-3 than wild brown meagre. The total monoenoic and polyenoic fatty acid contents were higher in the cultured brown meagre, whereas the corresponding total saturated fatty acid content and the n-3/n-6 ratio were lower.