Furan Fatty Acids of Lipids from Serum and Sexual Organs of Chum Salmon

Abstract

Distribution of furan fatty acids (F acids) in the lipids of serum and sexual organs (eggs, spent ovaries, coelomic fluid, testes, sperm, and seminal plasma) of mature chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta were examined by gas-liquid chromatography.
In the serum lipids, F acids were present only in sterol esters with about 10% of the total fatty acids, and no distinct differences in the F acid content by sex could be detected.
In the lipids of the sexual organs, F acids were found only in the sterol esters of coelomic fluid and spent ovaries, while in the testes they could be found predominantly in triacylglycerols with small amounts (2.2%) in sterol esters and constituted 42.8% of total fatty acids.
In the F acids found in each organ, F₆, 12, 15-epoxy-13, 14-dimethyleicosa-12, 14-dienoic acid was most abundant, comprising 56.3-86.1% of total F acids.
F acids were absent from the lipids of germ cells (eggs and sperm). From the present findings, it was suggested that F acids were not appreciably related to egg development following fertilization.