Proximate and Fatty Acid Compositions of Three Species of Imported and Domestic Freshwater Fishes

The proximate and fatty acid compositions of the edible portion of three species of cultured freshwater fish (common eel Anguilla japonica, rainbow trout Onchorhynchus mykiss, and Israeli carp Cyprinus carpio) were compared between imports from China and domestically produced specimens. The lipid contents of cultured common eel and rainbow trout were rich in imported fishes (20.4 and 12.2%, respectively) compared with those in domestic ones (16.0 and 8.01%, respectively), while those of Israeli carp were rich only in the domestically produced specimens (8.06 and 3.07%, respectively). There was a negative correlation between the lipid and moisture contents in all fish samples (r =-0.86). The protein contents ranged from 16.6 to 21.3% in domestic fishes and 15.3 to 19.1% in imported ones. The most prominent fatty acids in the fishes were: saturated fatty acids, 16:0, 18:0 and 14:0; monounsaturated fatty acids, 18:1n-9, 16:1n-7 and 18:1n-7; and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), 18:2n-6, 22:6n-3 (docosahexaenoic acid, DHA), and 20:5n-3 (eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA). The percentage of n-3 PUFA (e.g., DHA, 22:5n-3, EPA, and 18:3n-3) was higher in domestic common eel and Israeli carp than in imported ones, but similar in domestic and imported rainbow trout, and higher in domestic wild rainbow trout than in cultured ones. On the other hand, all of the cultured freshwater fishes contained a relatively large amount of 18:2n-6, which is a characteristic fatty acid in cultured fish lipids.