Fatty acids in the meat and by-products of reindeer from northwestern Siberia, Russia

Products derived from semi-domesticated reindeer are a fundamental component in the traditional diet of indigenous peoples in northwestern Siberia, but information on the fatty acid composition of reindeer tissues is lacking. We assayed fatty acids in the meat, heart, kidney, and spleen collected from adult reindeer. The fatty acid profiles varied significantly, with the lowest dissimilarity observed between the heart and kidney and the greatest dissimilarity between the meat and spleen. Saturated fatty acids were predominantly represented by palmitic and stearic acids, while oleic acid accounted for the majority of monounsaturated fatty acids. Linoleic, arachidonic, and docosapentaenoic acids were most common among polyunsaturated fatty acids. Comparable total fatty acid levels were detected in the meat (20.8 f 0.3 mg g-1) and heart (20.6 f 4.7 mg g-1), followed by spleen (15.6 f 4.0 mg g-1) and kidney (14.7 f 0.3 mg g-1). All the products can be considered as beneficial for human consumption, with the heart being the most favorable in terms of preventing cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless, the meat derived from Siberian reindeer exhibited the lowest n-6/n-3 among other members of the family Cervidae, probably due to spatial variations in reindeer diets and climate conditions.