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Elevated levels of arachidonic acid in fish from northern Australian coastal waters
Author(s) -
Sinclair Andrew J.,
O'Dea Kerin,
Naughton Joan M.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
lipids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.601
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1558-9307
pISSN - 0024-4201
DOI - 10.1007/bf02534565
Subject(s) - docosapentaenoic acid , arachidonic acid , fatty acid , polyunsaturated fatty acid , northern hemisphere , omega , latitude , chemistry , lipidology , biology , eicosapentaenoic acid , food science , biochemistry , geography , geology , enzyme , physics , geodesy , climatology , quantum mechanics
The fatty acid composition of 10 species of fish caught off the northwest coast of Australia (latitude 17°S) was examined. All species contained high levels of ω6 fatty acids (9.6–23.1% of total fatty acids) with arachidonic acid being the major ω6 fatty acid (5.9–14.8% of fatty acids). Docosatetraenoic and docosapentaenoic acids of the ω6 series accounted for 3–8% of the total fatty acids. The ratio of ω6 to ω3 fatty acids in these fish varied from 0.38 to 0.93, compared with an average ratio of 0.16 for fish from the northern hemisphere (latitude >30°N). The present data and figures from the literature indicate that the marine food chain in the southern hemisphere contains significant quantities of ω6 fatty acids.