Analysis of fat content and fatty acid composition of eight trash fish in South China Sea

The crude fats in different parts of eight kinds of trash fish, which are rich in South China Sea, were extracted by methanol and chloroform, and the fatty acid compositions were analyzed by gas chromatography. The results showed that the contents of crude fat in fish head, viscera and muscle were 2.7%~9.7%, 2.9%~6.2%, 2.0%~8.5%, respectively. The profile of fatty acid in differ-ent trash fish were same, but the contents were different. The contents of saturated fatty acid were the highest, which were above 40%. The contents of saturated fatty acid in the viscera were higher than those in the head and muscle.The difference among the contents of polyunsaturated fatty acid in 8 trash fish was great, and the contents of polyunsaturated fatty acid were lower in those fatty fish. The total contents of DHA and EPA changed a lot among different fish and different parts. The content of DHA and EPA was highest, up to 28.4% in the crude fat of Decapterus maruadsi head, and only 7.26% in the crude fat of Parupeneus bifasciatus viscera.