Lipid composition of five species of Indian prawns

Abstract

Abstract The lipid and fatty acid compositions of five Indian species of prawns, Metapenaeus monoceros, M. dobsoni, M. affinis, Penaeus indicus and Parapenaeopsis stylifera , were examined. Phospholipids constituted 50–70% of the total lipids, with phosphatidyl choline (50%) and phosphatidyl ethanolamine (29%) as their chief components. Unsaponifiable matter comprised 21–40%, chiefly cholesterol: triglycerides only constituted 9–14.5%. In the total lipids (I.V. 90–112), saturated, monoenoic and polyenoic fatty acids averaged 42, 24 and 34%. Palmitic acid is high, oleic low, and 20:5 generally, but not always, higher than 22:6. The only brackish water prawn, M. monoceros , though generally in conformity, was distinctive in several respects.