Investigation of the constituent fatty acids of some freshwater fishes common in Nigeria

The aim of this paper was to investigate the constituent fatty acids of some freshwater fish species as well as compare the nutritional quality of freshwater fish with that of marine fish by comparing the levels of essential fatty acids present. The fatty acids profile of freshwater fish species include minor amounts of odd-number, branched-chain, and even-number fatty acids as well as saturated components, the monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The major saturated fatty acids were C14:0 and C16:0. The C18:1 is the prominent monounsaturated fatty acids while the C18:2 is the dominant polyunsaturated fatty acids. The essential fatty acids compositions showed prominence in C18:3n-3 and C18:2n-6. The overall significance of this study had been its revelation that freshwater fish are good source of omega-6 essential fatty acids. The high percent of saturated fatty acids in freshwater fish gives them an advantage in curing processing.