The fatty acid composition in edible portion of wild and cultured catfish

The fatty acid composition in the edible portion of wild (Japanese catfish Silurus asotus and Iwatoko catfish S. lithophilus) and cultured catfish (Ja panese catfish S. asotus, Japanese and American channel catfish Ictalurus p unctatus, Thai catfish Clarias macrocephalus and Thai catfish hybrid C. mac rocephalus & C. galipinus) was analyzed. Cultured Japanese catfishes had a higher lipid content than wild ones. Lipid accumulation was not found in vi scera. The tail meat of catfish had a higher lipid content than the dorsal meat. Catfish showed the characteristic to accumulate lipid under the skin. The most abundant fatty acid of catfish was oleic acid (18:1n-9). The prop ortion of saturated fatty acid in Thai catfish was high compared with that of other catfish. The linoleic acid (18:2n-6) content of cultured catfish w as higher than that in wild ones. The arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) content of wild catfish was higher than that in cultured catfish. The contents of eic osapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) of catfishe s grown in Japan showed a higher content than those of catfishes cultured i n American and Thailand. The contents of 18:2n-6, 20:5n-3, and 22:6n-3 in t ail meat were higher than those in other portions of ordinary meat. These r esults suggest that Japanese catfish is a useful and functional food materi al.