An awareness of the protective roll of n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids against development of cardiovascular disease has prompted the promotion of fish consumption. It is assumed that those fish rich in polyunsaturated fat and particularly those having high ratios of n‐3 to n‐6 polyunsaturated fatty acids would confer the most benefit. The total fat and fatty acid compositional data are reported herein for 41 different species of fish that are mostly found in the coastal waters of the Eastern United States.

The stability of fish oils high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in fresh fish of low, medium and high fat content was investigated using microwave oven cooking. Cooked and uncooked portions of butterfish, mullet, mackerel and sardines were extracted, the lipid recovered and fatty acid composition determined. The effect of cooking was minimal with no detectable difference in total lipid between cooked and uncooked samples. Most important, PUFA were virtually unaffected by the overall cooking and the cooked fish retained their original PUFA composition and content.

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