[Lipid composition of marine shellfish berbigão Anomalocardia brasiliana (Gmelin, 1791) raw and cooked]

The berbigão Anomalocardia brasiliana is a marine shellfish which is commoning consumed in the coastal region of Santa Catarina. However, there are limited available data on the composition of their fatty acids and sterols. The objetive of this study was to determine the lipid composition of the berbigão from Reserva Extrativista Marinha de Pirajubaé (REMAPI), Florianópolis/SC, Brasil, during the autumn and spring. The total lipid content was 1.21g% and 0.72g% in the autumn and spring, respectively. Several fatty acids were identified and quantified, including 20 fatty acids, 6 saturated (14:0, 15:0, 16:0, 17:0, 18:0, 20:0), 4 monounsaturated (16:1, 17:1, 18:1, 20:1) and 10 polyunsaturated (18:2, 18:3, 18:4, 20:2, 20:3, 20:4, 20:5, 22:4, 22:5, 22:6). There was a higher proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids in total than saturated and monounsaturated, regardless of season: 40.7% of polyunsaturated, 30.8% of saturated, 17.2% of monounsaturated in the autumn and 39.7% of polyunsaturated, 27.7% of saturated, 13.7% of monounsaturated in the spring. The cholesterol corresponded to a value of 94.38 mg% in the autumn and 76.75 mg% in the spring. Among the sterols were found campesterol, estigmasterol and beta-sitosterol, but in lower quantities than cholesterol. These results showed that the berbigão was not a significant source of lipids, revealing low levels of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol. Berbigão is recommended for daily consumption as part of a healthy diet due to it is safe levels of fats and cholesterol.