Muscle Lipids and Fatty Acid Profiles of the Sea Catfish (Arius madagascariensis) in Madagascar Inland Waters

• Published in: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society 2008-05, Vol.85 (5), p.435-440
• Main Authors: Rasoarahona, J. R. E, Ramanoelina, P. A. R, Bianchini, J.-P, Gaydou, E. M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Arachidonic acid; Ariidae; Arius; Arius madagascariensis; Biological and medical sciences; Biomaterials; Biotechnology; Carp; Catfish; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Docosahexaenoic acid; Eicosapentaenoic acid; Esters; Fat industries; Fatty acid; fatty acid composition; Fatty acids; Fish; Fishing; Food industries; Food Science; Freshwater fish; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas chromatography; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Inland waters; Lipid; lipid composition; Lipids; Madagascar; Marine; Mass spectrometry; muscle tissues; omega-3 fatty acids; Original Paper; polyunsaturated fatty acids; PUFA; Rivers; seasonal variation; Standard deviation; Studies; Water analysis
• ISSN: 0003-021X; 1558-9331
• DOI: 10.1007/s11746-008-1211-4

Muscle lipids and fatty acids (FA) of catfish Arius madagascariensis were determined in catfish caught in the Betsiboka River, Madagascar, during a 5-month sampling period. Total lipids from muscle were extracted and quantified. Fatty acids were identified by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of FA methyl esters and FA pyrrolidides, leading to the identification of 42 FA. Lipid content was relatively high in our fish sample and ranged from 4.3 to 6.6% of wet muscle. Three FA dominated the FA composition: palmitic acid (C16:0, 22.9-32.6%), oleic acid (C18:1n-9, 11.3-13.4%) and stearic acid (C18:0, 10.8-12.0%). A number of polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) were present in appreciable amounts, including arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6, 4.7-7.6%), docosahexaenoic acid (C22:4n-6, 3.0-8.1%), eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3, 0.6-1.0%), n-3 docosapentaenoic acid (C22:5n-3, 1.1-1.6%), n-6 docosatetraenoic acid (C22:4n-6, 0.7-1.2%) and n-6 docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n-6, 0.9-1.8%). The sum of the n-6 PUFA and n-3 PUFA was 11.3-18.8 and 7.5-13.4%, respectively. These results indicate that A. madagascariensis, an abundant freshwater fish in Madagascar rivers, may be good source of dietary PUFA.