Lipid properties and fatty acid profiles of Tra catfish juveniles (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus)

Abstract

Tra catfish juveniles of three different sizes (4 -10 g, 30 - 40 g and 100 - 200 g) were obtained from The National Breeding Center for Southern Freshwater Aquaculture (Tien Giang province). Fish were fed commercial diet and starved for 12h, and then collected for lipid and fatty acid analyses. The results indicated that crude lipid and moisture content of the whole body tissue from different size groups of Tra juveniles ranged from 2.73 to 6.72 % and 77.95 to 81.59 %, respectively. Fatty acid composition were characterized by SFA (42-48 %), MUFA (34-39 %), HUFA (4.8- 0.3 %) and PUFA with 17.3-18.3 % of the total fatty acids. The ratio of n-3/n-6 and SFA/PUFA were 2.33-2.75 and 0.27-0.31, respectively. The most abundant saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids were oleic acids (28.60-35.84 %) and palmitic (23.27-29.34%). Among polyunsaturated fatty acid, LOA was found with the highest concentrations of (7- 3.4 %) followed by DHA (2.15-2.64 %), ARA (0.68-6.28); LNA (0.61-1.2 %) and EPA (0.68-0.79 %).