engleski

Differences in fatty acid composition between Moray, Conger and Common eel from Adriatic sea near Dubrovnik

Ratio of ω‐6/ω‐3 fatty acid in the human nutrition and their beneficiary effects on health are well known. Fish consumption is an important source of fatty acids. The composition of fatty acids in fish is directly linked to the diversity of organisms devoured by particular fish species. Previously we showed the differences in pray composition between top‐order predators the Moray and Conger eel and here present the differences in fatty acid composition between two species. Results are compared to Common eel since in this species a fatty acid composition is well known. All fish were collected in the Adriatic sea and the fish oil was extracted from muscular tissue (N=6/species). The fatty acid analysis was done by gas chromatography (GC). This work is the first existing report on Moray eel fatty acid composition. The results showed that Moray had highest amount of protein, similar to Common eel and followed by Conger eel. Total fat content was the highest in Common eel, followed by Moray and distinctively lower in Conger. Common eel had the highest saturated/unsaturated ratio, the highest ω‐6/ω‐ 3 fatty acids ratio and the highest percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA %) compared to Moray or Conger which had similar values in these three parameters. However, percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA %) was higher and similar in Moray and Conger eel than in Common eel. These differences implicate that different ecophysiology and pray composition influence the fat composition in kin Anguilliform species.

fatty acids ; nutritional physiology ; ecophysiology

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