FA composition of crude oil recovered from catfish viscera

The FA composition of crude catfish oil recovered from whole viscera, digestive tract, liver, gallbladder, and visceral storage fat was determined and compared with that of fillet and nugget (abdominal portion). About 34% crude fat (wet basis) could be recovered from the whole catfish viscera. FA found in crude catfish visceral oil were C14:0, C16:01 C16:1 C1 8:0, Cl 8:1, C1 8:2, Cl 8:3, C20:0, C20:1, C20:2, C20:3, C20:4, and C22:6, the predominant FA being C1 8:1, C1 6:0, Cl 8:2, and C18:0. Catfish visceral oil was characterized by a high level of unsaturated FA, which was similarly found in fillet and nugget. Total unsaturated FA in visceral oil amounted to 261.3 mg/g (dry basis) compared to that of fillet (259.3 mg/g) and nugget (307.6 mg/g). The whole viscera contained 4.2 mg/g DHA compared to that of gallbladder (9.2 mg/g), fillet (9.3 mg/g), and nugget (10.7 mg/g). The total n-3 FA in the whole and/or portioned viscera ranged from 4.3 to 20.9 mg/g.