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Fatty Acids in Liver, Muscle and Gonad of three Tropical Rays including Non-Methylene-Interrupted Dienoic Fatty Acids

  • Original Article
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Lipids

Abstract

Scientific investigation of lipids in Elasmobranchs has been conducted mainly on shark species. Because rays seem to be neglected, this study was performed to examine the complete fatty acid (FA) composition with a particular interest for long-chain polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) content in different tissues of three ray species including parts usually discarded. The total FA and PUFA profiles of total lipids were determined in muscle, liver, and gonad of Rhinobatos cemiculus, Rhinoptera marginata, and Dasyatis marmorata, the most often caught ray species from the East Tropical Atlantic Ocean. Fifty FA were characterized as methyl esters and N-acyl pyrrolidides by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, showing significant levels of 20:5n-3 (EPA) (up to 5.3%) and 22:5n-3 (DPA) (up to 7.3%), high levels of 20:4n-6 arachidonic (ARA) (4.8–8.6% of total FA) and 22:6n-3 (DHA) (up to 20.0%). The results show that muscle, liver and gonad of rays can provide high amounts of essential PUFA, specially DHA, for direct human nutrition or the food processing industry. High proportions of DHA were particularly found in all samples of R. cemiculus (11.6–20.0%), and in muscle and liver of D. marmorata (11.1–16.1%). Regarding the high amounts of (n-3) PUFA, this study shows that these rays deserve a better up-grading, including the normally discarded parts, and describes the occurrence of unusual NMID FA in all tissues studied. Five non-methylene-interrupted dienoic fatty acids (NMID FA) (0–3.4%) were reported, including previously known isomers, namely 20:2 Δ7,13, 20:2 Δ7,15, 22:2 Δ7,13, 22:2 Δ7,15, and new 22:2 Δ6,14. These acids are quite unusual in fish and unprecedented in rays. The 22:2 Δ6,14 acid occurred in gonads of male specimens of R. cemiculus at 2.9%.

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Abbreviations

amu:

Atomic mass unit

ARA:

Arachidonic acid

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3)

DPA:

22:5n-3

DUFA:

Diunsaturated FA

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3)

FA:

Fatty acid

FAME:

Fatty acid methyl ester

GC/MS:

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

MUFA:

Monounsaturated FA

NMID FA:

Non-methylene-interrupted dienoic FA

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated FA

SFA:

Saturated FA

TLC:

Thin layer chromatography

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to A. Ould Haouba (Nouakchott University, Mauritania) for administrative facilities and Z. Mint Sid’Oumou (Biology Department, Nouakchott University, Mauritania) for the collection and species identification, also to G. Nourrisson, Laboratory of Organic Synthesis, UMR 6513 CNRS, University of Nantes, France, for GC-MS experiments. Financial support by the French Government (Grant for MVEK from the Cooperation Ministry) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Phytochimie de Marseille, UMR CNRS 6171, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de Saint-Jérôme, Université Paul Cézanne, Case 531, Avenue Escadrille Normandie-Niémen, 13397, Marseille Cedex 20, France

    Mohamed Vall Ould El Kebir & Emile M. Gaydou

  2. Laboratoire de Biochimie, Faculté des Sciences, Nouakchott,  République Islamique de Mauritanie

    Mohamed Vall Ould El Kebir & Joseph Miralles

  3. Laboratoire de Chimie Marine, Groupe SMAB, EA 2160, Pôle Mer et Littoral, Université de Nantes, ISOMer, BP 92208, 2 rue La Houssinière, 44322, Nantes Cedex 3, France

    Gilles Barnathan

  4. Laboratoire d’Ichthyologie, Case 102, Université de Montpellier II, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Yves Siau

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  1. Mohamed Vall Ould El Kebir
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  2. Gilles Barnathan
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  3. Emile M. Gaydou
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  4. Yves Siau
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  5. Joseph Miralles
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Correspondence to Gilles Barnathan.

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Kebir, M.V.O.E., Barnathan, G., Gaydou, E.M. et al. Fatty Acids in Liver, Muscle and Gonad of three Tropical Rays including Non-Methylene-Interrupted Dienoic Fatty Acids. Lipids 42, 525–535 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-007-3040-x

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