Fatty Acid Profile Investigation of Blue Whiting Fish (Micromesistius poutassou) Flesh from Agbalata Market Badagry, Lagos West, Nigeria

Fish meat possesses high nutritional value and is therefore a particularly recommended dietary component. Fish tissue is known as the main source for long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) supply, which positively influence human health. These PUFAs favorably improve lipid profiles and reduce the risk of coronary heart diseases (CHD). Thus, this study was carried out to determine the fatty acid composition in the flesh of Blue whiting fish (Micromesistius poutassou) brought from Badagry market, Lagos west, Nigeria using gas chromatographic method. A total of twelve different fatty acids were obtained in the muscle of Blue whiting fish. The composition of saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) was found to be 18.8%, 38.2% and 21.5%, respectively. Palmitic acid (C16:0) and erucic acid (C22:1w9) were identified as the major SFA and MUFA respectively. Docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6w3) and eicopentaenoic acid (C20:5w3) had the highest levels amongst the PUFAs. Results show that blue whiting fish is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.