Health benefits of seafood consumption - with special focus on household preparations and bioactivity in animal models

Abstract

Fish consumption is well acknowledged to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease, the health benefits mainly being associated with EPA and DHA. Increasing evidence, however, demonstrate that also the proteins and other bioactive compounds may be of relevance to human health. This project was initiated in order to examine the nutritional composition and bioactivity related to cardiovascular disease parameters in fish and terrestrial meat protein sources. The aims were limited to i) document differences in nutritional composition and in vitro bioactivity of wild and farmed Atlantic cod, pork and beef, ii) examine the impact of cooking and digestion on the nutrients and in vitro bioactive components and iii) evaluate the effects of different protein sources and bioactive peptides using animal models of hypertension and atherosclerosis. The nutritional contents of cod and terrestrial meats were comparable, the main differences being lower fat content and three times higher taurine content in cod compared to the meats. Traditional household preparations mainly influenced the water content. The exclusively free amino acid taurine was lost correspondingly to the water loss. Cooked cod provided higher angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory activity compared to cooked meats. Raw pork exhibited higher antioxidative capacity compared to raw beef, while the cooked meats exhibited similar effects after a simulated digestion. The antihypertensive effect of cod hydrolyzate was evaluated in spontaneously hypertensive rats and after 7 days, the blood pressure increase leveled off and stabilized, suggesting some inhibitory activity of the cod hydrolyzate, although not proven significant in this study. The cardioprotective effects of seafood proteins were compared to those of chicken protein in female apolipoprotein-E-deficient mice. The total plaque burden in the aortas of mice fed cod-scallop protein was significantly lower compared to the plaque burden of mice fed chicken protein.