Abstract
The acetone-soluble lipids were obtained from the head cavity, blubber and meat of a sperm whale and fractionated into hydrocarbons, waxes, glycerides and polar substances by column chromatography (Tables 1-3). Fatty alcohols of waxes and fatty acids of both waxes and glycerides were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography, respectively (Tables 4-6). The waxes fraction amounts to 79.4% in head cavity oil, 85.5% in blubber oil and 60.4% in meat oil, suggesting the overall presence of waxes in the sperm whale body. The alcohol or fatty acid compositions of waxes and glycerides are found to be considerably different according to the part of a body. Alcohols in waxes of head cavity are characterized by the high concentration of cetyl alcohol exceeding 50% and a series of alcohols having less carbon atoms in a small quantity. Waxes from blubber and meat oils are similar in the alcohol composition, in which oleyl alcohol is dominant. In each test oils, the pattern of fatty acids composing waxes shows some similarity to those composing glycerides. Abundance of fatty acids having comparatively less carbon atoms and less double bonds in head cavity oil and occurrence of higher fatty acids in meat oil, especially highly unsaturated ones in waxes, are noticeable.
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