High Quality Oil Extracted from Sardine By‐Products as an Alternative to Whole Sardines: Production and Refining

Sardine (S) and sardine by‐product (SBP) oils are produced and refined in the interest of grading the potential by‐products as raw materials for the production of fish oil high in both quality and nutritional value. The oils are compared throughout different stages of refining in terms of free fatty acid (FFA), peroxide (PV), p‐anisidine (pAV), total oxidation (TOTOX), thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS), tocopherol content, fatty acid profile, and volatile components. The results of quality parameters FFA, PV, pAV, TOTOX, and TBARS of crude S are determined as 3.13% oleic acid, 5.91 meq O₂/kg, 18.46, 30.29 and 1.27 µm g⁻¹ while for SBP they were 2.94% oleic acid, 4.81 meq O₂/kg, 17.66, 27.28, and 2.86 µm g⁻¹, respectively. The refining enhances the quality parameters without a loss of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are 39.5 and 40.46% in refined S and SBP oil, respectively. The nutritional n‐6/n‐3 is 0.09 in both oils. Volatile compounds of the oils are quantified (in mg kg⁻¹) and the major components are 2,4‐heptadienal, pentadecane, 2,4‐decadienal, 2,4‐nonadienal, and docecane. The results clearly show that the sardine by‐products can be used as an alternative source of PUFAs, contributing to waste management and sustainable fisheries. Practical Application: The utilization of by‐products as a source of valuable compounds such as fish oil and omega‐3 will help improve waste management, allowing for fish the industry to benefit economically with isolated compounds having numerous applications in the food and feed production, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Quality parameters, fatty acid composition and volatiles of oils produced from whole sardine and sardine canning industry by‐products are compared throughout production and chemical refining. A high potential of by‐products as raw materials for the production of fish oil high in both quality and nutritional value is demonstrated. Both oils have good quality characteristics which would ensure their competitiveness with commercial fish oils and could be used as a very good source of polyunsaturated fatty acids.