review · Frontiers in Nutrition
Fish serves as a vital marine nutrition source that provides essential macronutrients, micronutrients, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds. These components, particularly proteins, bioactive peptides, and polyunsaturated fatty acids such as EPA, ALA, and DHA, support human health and help prevent various ailments. In addition to primary consumption, fish by-products offer valuable inputs for creating functional foods and nutraceuticals. These derivatives exhibit protective properties against cardiovascular conditions, viral attacks, infections, immune disorders, inflammation, oxidative stress, and neurological problems. Beyond disease prevention, the therapeutic and dietary use of fish resources helps address broader public health challenges, including protein deficiency and food security. However, potential contamination in certain fish species presents health risks for adults and children that require consideration when utilising these marine assets.
Fish and fish processing by-products contain vital nutrients that combat chronic illnesses, neurological conditions, and nutritional deficits. Understanding both the health benefits and the potential risks of contamination enables safer consumption while unlocking opportunities to repurpose processing waste into health-promoting foods, directly supporting dietary improvements and broader food security goals.
Fish by-products present commercial opportunities for the food manufacturing and nutraceutical sectors to develop functional foods and therapeutic formulations. Industrial users can extract valuable proteins, bioactive peptides, and polyunsaturated fatty acids to target inflammatory, cardiovascular, and immune conditions. While industrial applications and product development pathways are identified, the work is at a conceptual review stage, requiring applied processing, formulation, and safety monitoring to navigate contamination risks before reaching market deployment.
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Fish is the primary marine source that provides adequate nutrition to the human body. Fish production is increasing every year, contributing to a sustainable economy, as they provide a significant source of income and food: This review highlights the potential health benefits, industrial applications, and toxicity of various fish species Globally, fish possess various bioactive compounds; this efficacy makes them a more edible source to consume worldwide. A wide range of bioactive compounds, primary macronutrients, micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals are present in various fish types that are essential in preventing different human disorders. The nutritional value of fish helps to provide exceptional health benefits against different human ailments. Fish are excellent sources of protein, peptides, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), omega-6 fatty acids, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), omega-3 fatty acids that influence human health positively. Fish and their by-products are also excellent sources for developing various nutraceutical and functional foods to fight against multiple human disorders. The by-products of fish exert significant effects against infection, viral attack, cardiovascular diseases, immune disorders, oxidative stress, inflammation, neurological diseases, and other physiological complications. Few fish species are contaminated with harmful substances that cause potential risks to children's and adults' bodies. Additionally, the therapeutic use of fish and their by-products unveils the potential nutritional benefits to reduce the burden on public health by managing dietary issues such as food security, protein deficiency, and other nutritional-related problems.
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DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1564315
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