Abstract
The depot fat of the emu, ratite native to Australia, has recently been found to be a source for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In this study, the chemical characteristics of the depot fat from the emu have been clarified and compared with those from the ostrich and rhea, other ratites. The fatty acid combination in triacylglycerol (TG) molecular species detected were dioleoyllinolein, palmitoyloleoyllinolein, palmitoyldiolein and dipalmitoylolein, which were common to all major species of ratite. In the emu, TG containing oleic acid accounted for 89% of the total and palmitoyldiolein (20.5%) and the amount of triolein (16.6%) was the highest in the three species. In the ostrich, TG containing linolenic acid accounted for 23% of the total and the amount of palmitoyloleoyllinolenin (7.4%) was the highest in the three species. In the rhea, TG containing linoleic acid accounted for 55% of the total and the amount of palmitoyloleoyllinolein (16.1%) was the highest in the three species.
