SUMMARY:The fish processing operations in Patagonia produce large amounts of waste. The main fishery resource in Argentina is the Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi). The ports of the province of Chubut (the most important of which are Puerto Madryn, Rawson and Comodoro Rivadavia), together with Caleta Paula Port (province of Santa Cruz), in the Argentine Patagonia, capture more than 82,000 tons of hake annualy, 80% of which are of M. hubbsi, which is mostly converted into fillets. From this capture, about 2,296 tons of liver would be available for the extraction of oil. To promote the recovery and industrial use of fish oil, in the present study, we determined the variation in the proximate composition and fatty acid profile of Argentine hake waste from the ports mentioned above at different catch times. Proximate composition was determined according of the Official Methods of Analysis (AOAC). Fatty acid profile was analyzed by gas chromatography of the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). A standard mixture of FAMEs was run under identical conditions to identify the compounds on the basis of their retention times. Fatty acids were quantified using heptadecanoic acid (C17:0) as internal standard. The highest lipid recovery (27.0 to 41.8% of total lipids) was obtained from the liver fraction. Palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (18:1 n9), docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 n3), eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 n3) and palmitoleic acid (16:1) were the main constituents. Protein levels in viscera without livers (V-L) were higher than those in the liver. The extraction of marine fish oil and the production of fish offal meal from waste from fish factories would contribute to the sustainability of the regional industry, because it would also decrease the volume of waste, with benefits to the environment.
KEYWORDS: Liver oil; Merluccius hubbsi; Proximate compositionRESUMEN: Variación en la composición proximal y perfil de ácidos grasos recuperados a partir de residuos del procesamiento de merluza argentina (Merluccius hubbsi) en Patagonia. El procesamiento de pescados en Patagonia produce gran cantidad de residuos. El recurso de pesca más importante en la Argentina es la merluza argentina (Merluccius hubbsi). En Patagonia, los puertos de la provincia del Chubut (de los cuales los más importantes son Puerto Madryn, Rawson y Comodoro Rivadavia), y Caleta Paula (provincia de Santa Cruz), capturan más de 82.000 t anuales de merluza, de las cuales el 80% corresponden a M. hubbsi. La misma es en su mayoría convertida en filetes. De esta captura, aproximadamente 2.296 toneladas de hígados estarían disponibles para la extracción de aceites. Para promover la recuperación y el uso industrial del aceite de pescado, se ha determinado la variación en la composición proximal de los residuos y el perfil de ácidos grasos de híga-dos de merluza argentina capturada en diferentes épocas en los puertos mencionados arriba. La variación en composición proximal fue determinada según la metodología propuesta por los Official Methods of Analysis (AOAC). El per...