Evaluation and comparison of the CEM rapid extraction method with official standard methods for the determination of lipid content in fillets of farmed Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar)

Abstract

The CEM rapid extraction method for lipid content determination was compared with official standard methods and was found to give accurate results for individual samples, taking approximately 8 min per sample. The study involved the lipid analysis of 47 white muscle samples from six fillets of farmed Atlantic salmon, using both the CEM and the Soxhlet method, in order to evaluate the performance of the former. Nine samples from each fillet with variable lipid content, ranging from 2.0% to 25.4%, were analysed. The comparison of the CEM with the Soxhlet method showed that the CEM lipid values were significantly linearly correlated ( r 2=0.993, P<0.001), but were consistently lower than those of the standard by a factor of 0.37%. This difference was found to be more distinct in samples with lipid content below 10%. It is concluded that the CEM method is an effective rapid analysis method for the determination of lipid content in salmon fillets under commercial conditions for the routine monitoring of muscle lipid. For research purposes, it may be necessary to add a correction factor (0.59% for levels below 10% lipid and 0.27% above 10%) if direct comparisons with Soxhlet results are required.