Lipid characterization of cultured Hippocampus hippocampus trunk muscles shed light over their functional potential

Seahorses ( Hippocampus spp.) are traded as dried specimens to supply Traditional Chinese Medicine, being perceived as sources of bioactive compounds, with some studies supporting their functional attributes. The species Hippocampus hippocampus is classified as Data Deficient by IUCN, with growing evidence of illegal fishing and trade targeting wild populations. Even though this species has shown potential for captive culture, its biochemical characterization and bioactive properties remain to be fully explored. A lipidomic approach (C18-LC-MS and MS/MS) was employed to characterize the lipid composition of trunk muscles from cultured female and male H. hippocampus . Additionally, their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were assessed. A total of 230 lipid species, from 16 lipid classes, distributed in glycerophospholipid, sphingolipid, sterol lipid, prenol lipid, and fatty acyl categories, were identified in six female and five male seahorses. The lipid composition recorded for both sexes was not significantly different (ANOSIM, p-value = 0.13). Lipid extracts from trunk muscles exhibited anti-inflammatory activity (96.38 ± 2.25 % and 95.02 ± 3.30 % inhibition of COX-2 activity, in females and males, respectively). However, the lipid extracts showed no significant antioxidant activity, as determined by DPPH ● and ABTS ●+ radical scavenging assays. The lipid profile of seahorse trunk muscles included lipid species with known anti-inflammatory activities, such as the phosphatidylcholine (PC) 34:1, lyso PC 22:6, phosphatidylglycerol (PG) 34:1 and N-acyl ethanolamine (NAE) 16:0. By advocating the consumption of cultured seahorses, one may relieve the pressure on wild populations with fragile conservation status, as well as providing a sustainable functional food product.