Fatty Acids Composition and Nutritional Quality of Some Freshwater Fishes

The aims of this paper were to investigate the component fatty acids of some freshwater fish species by comparing the levels of essential fatty acids present. The FAME were determined by GC-MS and were identified using retention time locked methods and retention time databases. The fatty acids profiles include minor amounts of odd-number, branched-chain, and even-number fatty acids as well as saturated components, the MUFA and PUFA. The major SFA were C14:0 and C16:0. The C18:1 was the prominent MUFA. The dominant PUFA are of the omega-6 series and are found chiefly in C18:2 fatty acids. The essential fatty acids compositions showed prominence in C18:3n-3 and C18:2n-6. The branched chain fatty acids identified C15:0, C16:0, C17:0, C18:2 and C20:0. The overall significance of this study is the revelation that freshwater fishes have irregular pattern of FA which are good sources of omega-6 EFA. The high percent of branched and saturated FA in freshwater fish gives them an advantage in curing processing.