Fatty Acid Profile of Freshwater Crab (Paratelphusha lamellifrons) from Padma River of Rajshahi City, Bangladesh

Abstract

Freshwater crab Paratelphusha lamellifrons from Padma River were investigated for proximate and fatty acid composition. Proximate analyses of the claw and body meat of crab revealed the presence of moisture, crude protein, crude lipid and ash and their amount ranges between 71.72%-81.30%, 35.01%-49.06%, 13.24%-17.64% and 19.62%-22.12% respectively, on a dry weight basis. Except lipid (17.64%), claw meat content higher amount of moisture (81.30%), protein (49.06%) and ash (22.12%) compared to body meat. The fatty acid composition was analyzed by GC-FID and total 12 types of fatty acid were recorded in the fat isolated from crab. Among the recorded fatty acids MUFA were observed as the highest (42.85%), SFA were the second (25.96%) whereas, polyunsaturated (PUFA) were the lowest (15.02%). The fatty acid compositions showed that the SFA, MUFA and PUFA were dominated by palmitic acid (20.49%), oleic acid (23.99%) and linoleic acid (9.81%) respectively. The proximate and fatty acid composition of the present study demonstrated that these species (P. lamellifrons) are a promising source of essential fatty acids ω-3 and ω-6 namely, DHA and EPA.