Fatty Acid Composition in Rainbow Trout Eggs (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum, 1792)

Abstract

This article analyzes, with composition parameters, 58 rainbow trout egg-layings obtained, handled and monitored individually in performance from their fertilization until the end of the gallbladder reabsortion phase. Aside from the reproductive values, the content of fatty acids in the eggs was determined in fresh conditions through gas chromatography. The average profile highlights the palmitic acid (C16), oleic acid (C18:1n-9) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3), as the most representative, with almost 60% of the total and, in general, in stable concentrations among females. Both for each determined acid and for the suite of integrated series n-3 and n-6, and the groups of saturated (SAF), monounstaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA), a pattern of similar composition to the one reported is defined for the species in other management schemes and under varying nutritional regimes. The conservative condition was analyzed in the incorporation of fatty acids into the egg and its usefulness as possible quality definers was discussed, using the high variability recorded in survival at the end of the incubation process as reference.