Bivalves as future source of sustainable natural omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The increasing global population poses a huge challenge to food security, especially in terms of providing adequate sustainable and affordable high quality lipids. This article reviews the sources of natural omega-3 LC-PUFA and identifies the future direction for producing high quality lipids to meet growing market demands. Generally, bivalve lipids are high quality source of lipids that are beneficial to human health, regardless of species and habitat. There is also reason to believe that the development of bivalve farming worldwide, selective breeding of bivalves to increase the accumulation of omega-3 LC-PUFA and practising efficient usage of bivalve lipids can meeting some, if not all, of the growing demand for omega-3 LC-PUFA. Such information will aid to establish a promising source of high quality natural omega-3 LC-PUFA and ensure that all consumers have access to sufficient omega-3 LC-PUFA at an affordable price to support a healthier and balanced diet.