Fortification of Foods with Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids

Abstract

A $600 million nutritional supplements market growing at 30% every year attests to consumer awareness of, and interests in, health benefits attributed to these supplements. For over 80 years the importance of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) consumption for human health has been established. The FDA recently approved the use of ω-3 PUFAs in supplements. Additionally, the market for ω-3 PUFA ingredients grew by 24.3% last year, which affirms their popularity and public awareness of their benefits. PUFAs are essential for normal human growth; however, only minor quantities of the beneficial ω-3 PUFAs eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are synthesized by human metabolism. Rather PUFAs are obtained via dietary or nutritional supplementation and modified into other beneficial metabolites. A vast literature base is available on the health benefits and biological roles of ω-3 PUFAs and their metabolism; however, information on their dietary sources and palatability of foods incorporated with ω-3 PUFAs is limited. DHA and EPA are added to many foods that are commercially available, such as infant and pet formulae, and they are also supplemented in animal feed to incorporate them in consumer dairy, meat, and poultry products. The chief sources of EPA and DHA are fish oils or purified preparations from microalgae, which when added to foods, impart a fishy flavor that is considered unacceptable. This fishy flavor is completely eliminated by extensively purifying preparations of n-3 PUFA sources. While n-3 PUFA lipid autoxidation is considered the main cause of fishy flavor, the individual oxidation products identified thus far, such as unsaturated carbonyls, do not appear to contribute to fishy flavor or odor. Alternatively, various compound classes such as free fatty acids and volatile sulfur compounds are known to impart fishy flavor to foods. Identification of the causative compounds to reduce and eventually eliminate fishy flavor is important for consumer acceptance of PUFA-fortified foods.

Assessment of Thermal and Textural Characteristics and Consumer Preferences of Lemon and Strawberry Flavored Fish Oil Organogels

“…To promote consumer perception and increase the stability of such products, various processing techniques such as refining, encapsulation, antioxidant addition and modified atmosphere packaging were applied 11,12 . Nowadays, fish oil is encapsulated and thus, the impact of fish off-flavor is reduced to a greater extent 7,13 . Currently such food supplements are present in the market.…”

“…Nevertheless, fish oil is usually related with fishy off-flavor and therefore fish oil consumption is quite limited 7 . Fish oil constitutes less than 1 of dietary oil consumption in the world 10 .…”

“…Although fish oil encapsulation is really quite effective in reducing the off-flavor, these supplements are not enough wide-spread and consumed to meet the dietary requirements for PUFAs. Therefore, nowadays, a considerable amount of food products, especially infant formulations are fortified with PUFAs, extracted either from fish oil or microbially produced ingredients are used 7 .…”

“…PUFAs cannot be synthesized in the human body in sufficient amounts, these essential lipids have to be acquired from various dietary sources 7 . Fish and fish oil are the main sources of EPA and DHA, and nutritionists recommend that these fatty acids should be mostly provided together with food 8 .…”

FUNCTIONAL EGG PRODUCTION. I. THE ROLE OF ω-3 POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS (review)

“…Indeed, linoleic PUFA (LA, C18:2ω-6) and -linolenic (ALA, C18:3ω-3), irreplaceable for humans and most animals, are not synthesized in the body from more saturated acids due to the lack of Δ 12 desaturase [19]. LA and ALA from the diet can serve as precursors in the biosynthesis of PUFAs with longer carbon chains (long-chain PUFAs, LCPUFA).…”