Comparative study of fat content, profile and quality of fatty acid in three species of Carangidae of southwestern Mediterranean

This work focuses on the study of three pelagic fish species of the same genus, caught from the south-western coasts of the Mediterranean. It concerns lipid content, fatty acid profile and nutritional quality (atherogenic index, thrombogenicity index, ratio between hypocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic fatty acids and n6-to-n3 ratio) of Trachurus trachurus, Trachurus mediterraneus and Trachurus picturatus. Lipid extraction and esterification were carried out on the flesh of each species, and fatty acid methyl esters were analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The obtained results show that lipid content mean values vary between 2.87 and 5.06%, saturated fatty acids contents range from 37.51 to 53.23%, monounsaturated fatty acids content range from 29.24 to 37.65% and polyunsaturated fatty acids content range from 9.11 to 33.24% according to species. Also, the different mean values of indexes describing the nutritional quality vary significantly depending on species. That confirms the good quality of studied species and their importance for human nutrition and health, hence the urgent need to preserve their stocks.