Omega-3 Fatty Acid Content in Various Tissues of Different Persian Gulf Fish

Background: To investigate the level of omega-3 fatty acids in different kind of fish head, muscle and liver from 30 species of fish collected from Persian Gulf.
Material and Methods: In this experimental study, the fish were collected by hunting from Boushehr and Hormozgan sea ports. Their head, muscle and liver fatty acids were determined on their methylated fatty acids dissolved in N-hexin. Quantitative analysis of fatty acids was performed by gas chromatography (GC) with methylmyristate used as the reference material in this analysis and the qualitative analysis of fatty acids was done by gas chromatography and mass spectrometer (GC- mass) and cod liver oil which contained all of omega-3 fatty acids used as standard.
Results: Our study showed that some fish were good sources of omega-3 fatty acids and Trout (Ghezel-ALA), Bartail flathead (Zaminkan-e-domnavari), Malabar blood snapper (Sorkhoo malabari) had maximum levels of omega-3 in all body tissues. Other types of fish were rich in omega 3 fatty acids in separate organs, such as liver in Bartail flathead (Zaminkan-e-domnavari), head in Sillago Sihama (Shoort) and muscle in Trout (Ghezel-ALA). In contrast, lesser amount of omega 3 fatty acids is found in tissues of other species of fish such as Silver pomfret (Halva sefid), Longfin trevally (Gish-e-derazbale) and Xiphophorus Hellerii (Dom-shamshiri).
Conclusion: This research showed that the liver of fish had the highest level of omega-3 fatty acids and fish muscle contained more omega-3 fatty acids than the head and all fish tissues can be served.