Quality Assessment of Omega-3 Supplements Available in the Brazilian Market

• Autor(a) principal: Galuch,Marília B.
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Carbonera,Fabiana, Magon,Thiago F. S., Silveira,Roberta da, Santos,Patrícia D. S. dos, Pizzo,Jessica S., Santos,Oscar O., Visentainer,Jesuí V.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-50532018000300631
• topic: omega-3 supplements; adulteration; fish oil; soybean oil; lipid profile

Omega-3 fish oil supplements are widely consumed as source of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids, presenting beneficial effects on human health. This study aimed to evaluate fifteen brands of omega-3 fish oil supplements available in Brazilian market in order to estimate the Brazilian reality regarding those supplements. Twelve fatty acids were quantified by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID), and lipid profile were obtained via mass spectrometry fingerprinting using direct electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) to assess the form in which fatty acids are present as well as the possible fraud existence. Among all analyzed samples, thirteen brands were revealed as EPA and DHA sources (90.2-440.3 and 77.8-302.3 mg g-1lipid, respectively) in triacylglycerols (TAG) or ethyl esters (EE) form. However, two brands were discovered with addition of large amounts of soybean oil, leading the final consumer to ingest this low-cost oil believing that they are consuming adequate doses of EPA and DHA.