Cold Smoking Does Not Decrease the Content of Long- Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Siberian Whitefish Species

Four raw and cold-smoked whitefish species of the genus Coregonus, least cisco (C. sardinella),
\nArctic cisco (C. autumnalis), muksun (C. muksun) and broad whitefish (C. nasus), caught in the Yenisei
\nRiver (Siberia, Russia) were analyzed. Content (mg per g of product) of long-chain polyunsaturated
\nfatty acids of the omega-3 family (LC-PUFAs), namely, eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3, EPA) and
\ndocosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3, DHA), as well as fatty acid (FA) profiles, were measured. There was no
\nsignificant decrease in the EPA+DHA content in smoked fish compared to raw fish. Moreover, in least
\ncisco, a significant increase in the EPA+DHA content, from 3.22 ± 0.39 mg ∙ g -1 in raw fish to 5.04 ±
\n0.50 mg ∙ g-1 in smoked fish, occurred. Thus, smoked fish of the studied species proved to be a valuable
\nsource of LC-PUFA for human nutrition. The FA profiles of the examined fish, which reflect their diet,
\ndid not change considerably in the process of smoking. Therefore, the FA profiles of smoked fish could
\nbe used for verifying label information on species identity and catchment area