Fatty acid distribution in muscle, liver, and gonads of rays (Dasyatis marmorata, Rhinobatos cemiculus, and Rhinoptera marginata) from the East Tropical Atlantic Ocean.
If a great number of rays are fished in the Tropical East Atlantic Ocean for their caudal fins, only a small amount of ray flesh is processed. Among them, three species of rays, Dasyatis marmorata, Rhinobatos cemiculus, and Rhinoptera marginata, from the Mauritanian coast have been investigated for the fatty acid composition of their lipids. Gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry allowed identification of 50 molecules from muscles, livers, and gonads of these fishes. Principal component analysis, starting from >50 samples, reveals significant differences in various fatty acid distributions, related to the species and sex of the sampled fish. Some of them are preferentially present in one sex or in both species, whereas the occurrence of others characterizes the male and female of one or two species. The results show that rays are potential resources of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and should be used in the diet of local populations. The lipidic fractions contained a high amount of PUFA (up to 30% of the total), mainly composed of docosa-4,7,10,13,16,19-hexaenoic acid, eicosa-5,8,11,14-tetraenoic acid, and eicosa-5,8,11,14,17-pentaenoic acid.
Ould El Kebir
Mohamed Vall
MV
Laboratoire de Phytochimie de Marseille, UMR CNRS 6171, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de Saint-Jérôme, Case 531, Avenue Escadrille Normandie-Niémen, F-13397 Marseille Cedex 20, France.
Barnathan
Gilles
G
Siau
Yves
Y
Miralles
Joseph
J
Gaydou
Emile M
EM
D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006066:Gonads / Q000737:chemistry*; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D008435:Mauritania; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry*; D012860:Skates, Fish
D005227:Fatty Acids; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D008055:Lipids