Amino acids, fatty acids and sterols profile of some marine organisms from Portuguese waters.

Marine organisms have been increasingly regarded as good sources of new drugs for human therapeutics and also as nutrients for human diet. The amino acids, fatty acids and sterols profiles of the widely consumed echinoderms Paracentrotus lividus Lamarck (sea urchin), Holothuria forskali Chiaje (sea cucumber), the gastropod molluscs Aplysia fasciata Poiret and Aplysia punctata Cuvier (sea hares), from Portuguese waters, were established by GC-MS analysis. Overall, 10 amino acids, 14 fatty acids and 4 sterols were determined. In general, all species presented the 10 amino acids identified, with the exceptions of H. forskali, in which no glycine, proline, trans-4-hydroxy-proline or phenylalanine were found, and of A. fasciata which did not contain proline. Unsaturated fatty acids were predominant compounds, with those from the ω-6 series, being in higher amounts than their ω-3 homologues, and cholesterol being the main sterol. The amino acids, fatty acids and sterols qualitative and quantitative composition of A. fasciata, A. punctata and H. forskali is reported here for the first time.