[Fatty acid content in Jiangnan dishes in Hangzhou].

Objective: To analyze the fatty acid content of Jiangnan dishes in Hangzhou.

Methods: Based on the order frequency records from an online platform, two popular Jiangnan cuisine restaurants were selected for monitoring. Fat extraction was performed on three types of dishes: purely vegetarian, mixed vegetarian and non-vegetarian, and purely non-vegetarian, using acid hydrolysis. The extracted fats from these dishes were then analyzed using gas chromatography to determine the content of 37 different fatty acids, followed by a classification analysis.

Results: The average contents of saturated fatty acids(SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids(MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids(PUFA) in the sampled home cooking were 2.477, 1.961 and 0.837 mg/g, respectively, of which the average contents of the n-3 PUFA and the n-6 PUFA were 0.175 and 0.648 mg/g, respectively. Vegetarian dish S/M/P was 1∶1.36∶0.39, half meat and half vegetarian dish S/M/P was 1∶2.02∶0.88, and meat dish S/M/P was 1∶0.15∶0.13. Vegetarian vegetable n-6 PUFA/n-3 PUFA was 1.84, half-meat and half vegetarian dish n-6 PUFA/n-3 PUFA was 6.51, and meat dish n-6 PUFA/n-3 PUFA was 3.50.

Conclusion: In Jiangnan cuisine of Hangzhou, purely vegetarian dishes have a low PUFA content, mixed vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes have a high MUFA content, and purely non-vegetarian dishes have low levels of both MUFA and PUFA. The content of n-6 PUFA in these home-cooked dishes is much higher than that of n-3 PUFA, especially in half-meat and half-vegetarian dishes.