FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF THREE DIFFERENT INDIAN LOACH SPECIES

Freshwater fishes contain monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and saturated fatty acids (SAFAs), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are particularly vital due to their ability to prevent psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular disease, and some other illnesses such as thrombogenesis, atherosclerosis, cancer, high blood pressure, and skin diseases. There is inter and intra species variability in the fatty acids composition of fish lipids (polyunsaturated fatty acids in particular). The  aim  of  the  study  was  to investigate  the  fatty  acids  constituents  of  some Indian loach freshwater fish species by determining the amounts of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated n-3 and n-6 fatty acids.

Diversified fresh captured fishes were sorted and identified by the fish taxonomist. Namely Botia lohachata (BL), Botia ghetto (BG) and Lepidocephalus thermalis (LT), were obtained from Fishermen at the lake site of three different locations of India. The fatty acid composition was evaluated with the capillary gas chromatography method. The fatty acids   were   analyzed   on   an   Agilent   Gas Chromatograph   6890N   with   a   flame-ionization detector (FID). FAMEs were identified comparing their retention time with the commercial standard mixtures FAME Mix, C4-C24 analytical standard (Supelco Inc., Bellefonte, PA, USA).

The lipid content of the studied fish species are given in Table 1. The amounts of Omega-6 fatty acid (ώ6) were found to be the highest in L. thermalis (03.45%). Among three fishes L. thermalis has higher nutritional value due to the unsaturated fatty acids particularly PUFAs which is higher than Botia lohachata and Botia ghetto. ώ6 benefits decline the risk of diabetic nephropathy and rheumatoid arthritis. Species, season, geographical regions, age, and maturity influence the fat content. The fatty acid composition of the studied fish groups especially L. thermalis indicate that the fish have the considerable nutritional capacity. L. thermalis has very good market value in Tamil Nadu and it is considered to be delicacy. A management programme for this species conservation should be undertaken.