Brazilian rivers have a great diversity of fish, however, little is known about the nutritional potential of most native fish. The present study evaluates the centesimal composition and the fatty acid profile of the muscle tissue of four species of fish: pintado (Pseudoplatystoma coruscans), cachara (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum), pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) and dourado (Salminus maxillosus), from the Miranda River in the pantanal region of Mato Grosso do Sul. Dourado had the highest protein content (21.12%), while pintado had the lowest value (17.90%). There was no difference between the protein levels of cachara and pacu (approximately 18%). Pacu fillets were revealed to be the most caloric and this value did not change when the dry sample was considered. The four fish species presented oleic acid (20.25 to 37.25%) as the predominant fatty acid, followed by palmitic acid (19.96 to 21.37%) and stearic acid (7.39 to 9.82%). Total polyunsaturated fatty acid contents varied from 5.24 in pacu to 17.33% in pintado; and total saturated fatty acids from 32.91 to 38.89%. Cachara, pintado and dourado species presented equal proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids of the ω-3 family (average of 7.80%) and of the ω-6 family (average of 8.40%), while pacu presented the lowest contents of these fatty acids (1.13 and 4.11%, respectively). All the samples studied presented ω6/ω3 and hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic (HH) indexes that indicate good nutritional quality. Only pacu presented non-recommended levels in relation to trombogenicity (TI) and polyunsaturated/saturated (P/S) indexes.
fishes; proximate composition; fatty acids; omega-3; lipids
