Lipid classes and Fatty acid profile of selected Indian Freshwater Fishes

Lipid extracts from meat, head and viscera of
Indian fresh water fi shes, viz.,catla, rohu, mrigal, common
carp and tilapia were analyzed for lipid class distribution
and fatty acid profi le. The yield of meat ranged from
66.0–79.5% and total lipid content in meat was 0.8–3.8%.
The total lipid content was higher (>4.0%) in head and viscera.
Neutral lipids constituted 71.5–93.3% of the total lipid
extract. Higher glycolipid content of 25.2% was observed
in lipid extract from meat of common carp and higher phospholipid
content (13.7%) was observed in lipid extract from
meat of mrigal. Hydrocarbons, sterolesters and triacylglycerol
were the major fractions of neutral lipids. Unsaturated
fatty acids dominated in all the samples. Palmitic and oleic
acids were the major fatty acids found in all the lipid extracts.
Docosahexaenoic acid content was higher than 3% in
lipid extract from meat of all the fi shes. However, in most of
the fi shes, the content of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic
acid were higher in visceral lipids.