Fatty acid composition of horse mackerel (Magalaspis cordyla) and croaker (Otolithes ruber)

Objective To determine the proximate and fatty acid composition of muscle, viscera, skin and bone of marine fish's horse mackerel and croaker. Methods Freshly collected fishes were dissected and their moisture, ash and protein content were estimated gravimetrically by AOAC procedure and the lipid was extracted using chloroform, methanol and water in a ratio proposed by Bligh and Dyer. Extracted lipid was injected into gas chromatography connected to BPX-70 glass column to evaluate the fatty acid composition. Results All the body parts analyzed had varying moisture content in between 73%–83%. Horse mackerel contained less than 3% and croaker had above 4% of lipid in all the body parts except muscle (1.4%). Fatty acid and lipid class composition was determined for all the body parts and the dominant polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) was docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Conclusion Both the fish species showed variation, in protein content, lipid content and fatty acid composition. However, croaker had more remarkable quantity of lipid than horse mackerel.