Studies on the Lipid Components in Cultured Fishes-I

The Triglycerides and Sterylesters in the Lipids of Single Cell Protein from Hydrocarbons

Abstract

The present studies aimed to elucidate the structures of triglycerides and sterylesters contained in the single cell protein (SCP) grown on hydrocarbons. Lipids of two types of SCP samples were extracted with a chloroform-methyl alcohol mixture (2:1). The triglycerides and sterylesters in these lipids were separated by thin layer chromatography then sujected to gas chromatographic (GLC) analysis.
The lipids of SCP samples were found to consist of triglycerides having even and odd carbon numbers ranging from C₃₉ to C₅₄, these triglycerides were composed of fatty acids which contained even and odd numbers of carbon atoms ranging from C₁₃ to C_18. On the basis of these carbon numbers for fatty acids and trigly-cerides, the possible structures for triglycerides in the SCP sample were estimated. In order to obtain confirmatory evidence for the estimation, a new type of GLC reaction column was devised for separating the fatty acids of a triglyceride into the form of methylester derivatives.
When triglycerides of the C₄₆ and C₄₉ series were analyzed using the new apparatus, it was revealed that the C₄₆ triglyceride consists of fatty acids, C14:0, C15:1, C16:1 and C17:1, while the latter contained C14:0, C151, C16:1, C17:1 and C18:1, respectively.
It was found that the sterylesters in the SCP samples ergosterol-fatty acid com-plexes consisting of fatty acids with carbon numbers ranging from 13 to 18.