European Eel (Anguilla anguilla) Skin as a Valuable Source of Bioactive Compounds

• Main Authors: Bote, Antía, Trigo, Marcos, Martínez, Sidonia, Aubourg, Santiago P.
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Preprints.org 2024
• Subjects: Anguilla anguilla; Skin; Muscle; Proteins; Phospholipids; Sterols; α-tocopherol; ω3 fatty acids; ω3/ω6 ratio
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/359824; https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.2168.v1

12 pages, 3 tables, 2 figures.-- This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License he presence of valuable bioactive compounds in European eel (Anguilla anguilla) skin was studied. For it, proximate and lipid class compositions and analysis of the fatty acid (FA) profile (individual FAs; FA groups, i.e., saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated; FA ratios, i.e., polyunsaturated/saturated, ω3/ω6) were determined and compared to the composition of the eel muscle. As a result, higher (p<0.05) levels of proteins (271.6 g·kg-1), lipids (38.0 g·kg-1), ash (27.7 g·kg-1) and ω6 FAs were observed in the skin tissue. Contrary, the muscle tissue showed higher (p<0.05) moisture, ω3 FA and ω3/ω6 values. Regarding lipid classes, a higher (p<0.05) proportion of phospholipids (111.1 g·kg-1 lipids), sterols (104.7 g·kg-1 lipids), α-tocopherol (274.0 mg·kg-1 lipids), and free fatty acids (43.6 g·kg-1 lipids) was observed in the skin tissue. No differences (p>0.05) between both tissues could be detected for triacylglycerol and FA group (saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated) values, as well as for the polyunsaturated/saturated ratio. It is concluded that eel skin, a by-product resulting from commercial processing, can be considered a valuable source to provide the food and pharmaceutical industries with useful value-added constituents such as proteins, lipids, ω3 FAs, phospholipids, and α-tocopherol This research received no external funding Peer reviewed