Comparison of databases reporting nutrient measures of fish and other aquatic foods

The nutrition values of fish and other aquatic foods have recently gained global recognition for their potential to alleviate ‘hidden hunger’ in many contexts and for many nutritional vulnerable people. Yet, data for most fish, aquatic species, and forms of aquatic foods (particularly those of lower commercial value) are unavailable and unattainable due to the prohibitive cost of high-quality nutrient analysis. This means the databases that house the data that do exist are simultaneously incredibly valuable and riddled with gaps. Many initiatives have risen to address this challenge of compiling the best quality, to all available, data on the nutrient qualities of fish and other aquatic foods. There are multiple databases that now exist through which a researcher or policy maker might locate or contribute data. These include (1) Analytical Food Composition Database; (2) Food Composition Database for Biodiversity Global food composition database for fish and shellfish (3) Seafood Data (4) FishNutrients (5) Aquatic Food Composition Database (6) FoodEXplorer (7) the many different National Food Composition Databases. With input from experts from the fields of food sciences, nutrition and fisheries, and with a rapid review process by database curators, we compiled the metadata for seven different databases that contain large data set on nutrient qualities of fish and other aquatic foods. By summarising metadata, and generating a comparison between databases, we envisage that this tool will help researchers navigate these different tools, and better understand their different strengths and limitations.

鱼类及其他水生食品的营养价值近期获得全球广泛认可，因其在诸多场景中具备缓解"隐性饥饿（hidden hunger）"的潜力，可惠及众多营养脆弱人群（nutritionally vulnerable people）。然而，由于高质量营养分析的成本高昂，多数鱼类、水生物种及各类水生食品（尤其是商业价值较低的品类）的相关数据仍缺失且难以获取。这使得现存的数据资料库既极具科研与应用价值，又存在大量数据缺口。为应对这一挑战，诸多倡议已相继发起，旨在整合所有可获取的、最高质量的鱼类及其他水生食品营养品质数据。目前已有多个数据库可供研究人员或政策制定者查询或贡献数据，具体包括：(1) 分析性食品成分数据库（Analytical Food Composition Database）；(2) 生物多样性食品成分数据库（Food Composition Database for Biodiversity）、全球鱼类与贝类食品成分数据库（Global food composition database for fish and shellfish）；(3) 海鲜数据（Seafood Data）；(4) FishNutrients；(5) 水生食品成分数据库（Aquatic Food Composition Database）；(6) FoodEXplorer；(7) 各类国家级食品成分数据库。本研究吸纳食品科学、营养学及渔业领域专家的专业意见，并经数据库管理员开展快速评审流程，整理了7个包含大规模鱼类及其他水生食品营养品质数据集的数据库的元数据（metadata）。通过对元数据进行汇总并开展数据库间的对比分析，我们期望本工具能够帮助研究人员便捷地检索、使用这些数据库，更好地明晰各类数据库的差异化优势与局限性。