All about fish vitamins

1. VITAMINS IN FISH: COMPOSITION AND THEIR
VARIATION IN DIFFERENT ORGANS IN SMALL
FISH, FARMED FISH AND MARINE FISH,
METABOLISM AND INTERACTION OF VITAMINS IN
FISH, EFFECTS OF PROCESSING AND STORAGE ON
VITAMIN CONTENT
Presented by :
Md. Rabiul Alam
19FT JD-7M
Bangladesh Agricultural University
Prepared by :
Md.Mehadi Hasan Joy
Faculty of Veterinary Science
Bangladesh Agricultural University.

2. Introduction
■ An organic chemical compounds is called a vitamin when it cannot be
synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from
the diet.
■ A Polish scientist, Casimir Funk (1884-1967), coined term “vitamin” after he
discovered that certain ingredients in food are essential for maintaining health.
The word “vitamin” comes from the latin word “vita(life)” and the biochemical
term “amine” (nitrogen containing)-although we know now that not all vitamins
contain nitrogen.

3. Classification of Vitamins
■ There are two types of vitamins:
1.Fat soluble vitamins
2.Water soluble vitamins

4. Characteristics of Fat Soluble
Vitamins
■ They contain C, H and O
■ They are stored in the body
■ They are secreted in the feces
■ They cause toxicity
■ They are not synthesized by body but sometimes synthesized

5. Characteristics of Water Soluble
Vitamins
■ They contain C, H, O and may contain S
■ They are not stored in body
■ They are secreted into urine
■ They cannot cause toxicity
■ They cannot synthesized by body
■ They are not dietary essential

6. Vitamin A
■ Shark, cod, haddock, halibut, mackerel, salmon,
swordfish, tuna, mola, dhela, darkina contain large
amount of vitamin A in their liver
■ Mola contain 53% of vitamin A in its eye region, 39%
in liver and 8% in other region
■ A small amount (< 5%) of vitamin A2 is found in most
marine fish
■ Vitamin A1 is found in high properties in marine
fishes, whereas vitamin A2 is predominant in
freshwater fishes

7. Vitamin D
■ The liver of fish is the rich source of vitamin D but
its concentration varies greatly among fishes
■ Albacore and skipjack tuna show the highest
concentration which range from 25000 to 250000
IU vitamin D per gram of liver oil
■ In contrast to vitamin A, low concentration of
vitamin D (<25 IU/gm) are found in liver oils of
elasmobranch
■ The flesh of marine fishes contain small amount of
vitamin D

8. Vitamin E
■ Tuna, mackerel, salmon, cod, etc. fish contain
vitamin E
■ In marine animals alpha-tocopherol is the major
forms detected. Fatty fish lead to have greater
vitamin E concentration than lean fish
■ Dark muscle contain more vitamin E than white
muscle

9. Vitamin K
■ Liver of different fishes contain vitamin K
■ It is also synthesized by intestinal flora

10. Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
■ Liver, heart, kidney of many fishes contain
thiamine
■ Marine fish generally contains marginal level
of thiamine and contribute only minor
amounts as a human dietary source for this
compound
■ The concentration of thiamine is diminished
by thiaminase which catalyses the
decomposition of thiamine even during
frozen storage

11. Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
■ The dark muscle contain 10-20 times more
riboflavin than white muscle
■ Pelagic fishes contain 10-20 times more
than the demersal fishes
■ Among the seafood molluscs are
predominantly rich in riboflavin

12. Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
■ Tuna, mackerel, salmon contain sufficient
amount of niacin
■ Marine fish contain more niacin than freshwater
fishess
■ Fatty fish with migratory nature contain more
niacin than lean and demersal fishes

13. Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
■ Pelagic fishes such as mackerel, herring,
tuna and bonito are particularly rich in
pyridoxine
■ The flesh of some freshwater fish contain
relatively lower concentration of pyridoxine

14. Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin)
■ High in dark muscle compared to white muscle
■ High in marine fishes compared to freshwater fishes
■ Oyster contain high amount vitamin B12
■ Vitamin B12 is stored in substantial amount in liver

15. Vitamin B9 (Folic acid)
■ High in marine species
■ Liver, kidney and spleen of marine fish
such as sea catfish and lamprey contain
vitamin B9

16. Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)
■ Farmed fish contain high amount of vitamin C
■ Salmon, chinook contain high amount of vitamin C

17. Table: Vitamin Contents (μg/100 gm)
of Some Small Fish, Farmed Fish and
Marine Fish:Fish Vit-B2 Vit-D3 Vit-D2 Vit-E Vit-B9 Vit-A
Dhela 4.7 0.14 - 0.24 6.6 918
Darkina 12.5 6.31 - 0.84 - 660
Mola 7.98 2.03 2.9 0.27 - 2503
Mola(Cultured) 5.9 3.0 - 0.91 4.3 2226
Catla 1.3 0.28 - 0.23 4.4 22
Rui 5.05 1.17 - 0.12 - 13
Lalpoa 2.0 1.3 - o.38 7.7

18. Metabolism of Vitamin A
■ Vitamin A (Retinol) is ingested as either
retinyl esters or carotenoids and
metabolized to active compounds such as
11-cis-retinol, which is important for vision
and all-trans-retinoic acid, which is primary
mediator of biological actions of vitamin A

19. Metabolism of Vitamin D
■ Vitamin D is metabolized first to 25
hydroxyvitamin D (250 HD), then to the
hormonal form 7,25 dihydroxyvitamin D.
CYP 2R1 is the most important 25
hydroxylase. CYP 27 B1 is the key 1-
hydroxylase

20. Metabolism of Vitamin K
■ Metabolism of vitamin K occurs mainly in the liver.
■ In the first step, vitamin K is reduced to its quinone form by a quinone reductase
such as NADPH dehydrogenase to complete the cycle
■ The vitamin K epoxide is returned to vitamin K via the vitamin K epoxide
reductase enzyme

21. Metabolism of Vitamin B1
(Thiamine):
■ Begins in the extracellular space
■ being transported by a thiamine transporter into the cell
■ Then, it is converted into thiamine pyrophosphate kinase 1
■ Thiamine pyrophosphate is then converted into thiamine triphosphate
■ Then, thiamine triphosphate uses thiamine triphosphatase to convert into
thiamine pyrophosphate,

22. Effects of Processing and
Storage on Vitamin Content:
1.Drying:
■ Drying methods that expose the food to air result in losses of vitamin A, D, E
and C due to oxidation
■ Drying also cause loose of water soluble vitamins

23. Effects of Processing and
Storage on Vitamin
Content(Cont.)
2.Blanching and cooking:
■ There is significant loss of water soluble vitamins through leaching
■ Inefficient blanching will incur some loss of vitamin C by oxidation, as well as by
leaching
■ When fish were blanched at 82-88 °c for 3 min, losses of thiamine, niacin,
vitamin B6 and vitamin C were 4, 20, 18 and 17% repectively

24. Effects of Processing and
Storage on Vitamin
Content(Cont.)
3.Canning:
■ Heat sterilization causes destructive losses of thermo labile vitamins
■ Thiamine loss on tuna canning and retorting may reach as much as 70%
destruction
■ Niacin is moderately heat stable compound and minimum losses occur during
processing when care is taken to prevent leaching of nutrients

25. Effects of Processing and
Storage on Vitamin
Content(Cont.)
3.Microwave heating:
■ Microwave heating has the potential for a greater retention of heat labile
vitamins compared with other conventional methods because the heating time is
shortened
■ The cooking of fish chicken in microwave oven led to greater retention of vitamin
B1, B2, and C than in conventional electric ovens

26. Effects of Processing and
Storage on Vitamin
Content(Cont.)
4.Freezing:
■ Using proper packaging and processing conditions, losses of most vitamins
during freezing process are negligible.
■ Gradual oxidation of vitamin A, C and E can take place during frozen storage if
the food is exposed to air through ineffective packaging
■ Decrease in vitamin E in frozen storage due to lipid peroxidation

27. Effects of Processing and
Storage on Vitamin
Content(Cont.)
5.Irradiation:
■ Irradiation cause some destruction of vitamins
■ Irradiation of fish at doses greater than 0.57 kGy resulted in considerable
destruction of thiamine
■ There is no loss of riboflavin on irradiation under anaerobic condition

28. Effects of Processing and
Storage on Vitamin
Content(Cont.)
6.Curing:
■ There is a significant loss of some water soluble vitamin during curing
■ Smoking can destroy some heat labile vitamin. 15-20% loss of thiamine as a
result of smoking
■ Salting, brining also incurs thiamine loss relative to the amount of water that is
drawn

29. Effects of Processing and Storage
on Vitamin Content(Cont.)
7.Surimi:
■ The production of surimi may result in a loss of vitamins, especially water
soluble vitamins
■ Huge losses of niacin are observed during surimi preparation

30. Effects of Processing and
Storage on Vitamin
Content(Cont.)
8. Storage:
■ Inefficient storage of fish cause loss of vitamin A, E and C due to oxidation
■ Significant loss of ascorbic acid is observed during storage and processing
■ Rancid and unpleasant flavours develop readily during storage of fishery
products/fillets when tissue vitamin E levels are low

31. Conclusion
■ Vitamins is very important and essential elements in our body.
■ It helps maintenance of body mechanism and acts as coenzyme of many
reactions.
■ Fish is a vital source of vitamin. Fish contain almost all vitamins in significant
level.
■ So, we should protect the vitamin from losses by various processing methods.

32. Thank You !!