BIOLOGICAL VARIATION OF LIPID CONSTITUENTS AND DISTRIBUTION OF TOCOPHEROLS AND ASTAXANTHIN IN FARMED ATLANTIC SALMON (SALMO-SALAR)

The contents of fat, astaxanthin, and tocogherols and the fatty acid c omposition of a homogeneous group of 145 farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) were determined. The analytical variation of the data was stas tistically-separated from the biological variation. The fat content in the muscle near the head was 15.0% with a biological standard deviati on of 3.0%. The astaxanthin concentration was 5.5 mg/kg of muscle with a biological standard deviation of 1.1 mg/kg of muscle, and the canth axanthin concentration was 200 mu g/kg of muscle with a standard devia tion of 47 mu g/kg of muscle. The concentrations of alpha-, gamma-, an d delta-tocopherols were approximately 32, 2.9, and 0.4 mg/kg of muscl e, respectively, and the biological standard deviations were 4.5, 0.4, and 0.07 mg/kg (14, 14, and 20%), respectively. in another group of f ive salmon the distributions throughout the fillet were determined, lo ngitudinally as well as transversally. The distribution of fat, astaxa nthin, and tocopherols varied throughout the salmon. The fatty acid co mposition varied little between extracts from different locations of t he fillet.