Investigation of fatty acids composition of some migratory fish in Beymelek Lagoon

In this study, it was aimed at determining fatty acid proportions of five economical migrant fish species captured from Beymelek Lagoon (an important fishery region in the Mediterranean shore of Turkey) at the end of feeding period (November). The investigated species were striped sea bream (Lithognathus mormyrus), flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus), golden grey mullet (Liza aurata), thinlip mullet (Liza ramada), thicklip grey mullet (Chelon labrasus). Palmitic and stearic acids in saturated fatty acids, oleic and palmitoleic acids in monounsaturated fatty acids, linoleic, linolenic, eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in polyunsaturated fatty acids were predominant fatty acids in all fish. The levels of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids were found as 33.20 %, 22.83 % and 18.20 % in Striped sea bream; 38.22 %, 21.33 % and 25.49 % in Flathead mullet; 33.45 %, 20.14 % and 32.30 % in Golden grey mullet; 33.66 %, 19.79 % and 32.11 % in Thinlip mullet and 36.93 %, 24.97 % and 16.94 % in Thicklip grey mullet, respectively. Total n3 and n6 polyunsaturated fatty acid levels of the species ranged also from 14.63 % to 30.32 % and from 1.93% to 3.95%, respectively. M. cephalus and L. aurata have the highest ratios of n3/n6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The n3 polyunsaturated fatty acid levels of the species from Beymelek lagoon with brackish water are as high as in the sea fish and these fish may be an important n3 polyunsatureted fatty acid source for human nutrition.Key words: Mediterranean; Beymelek Lagoon, Fatty Acids; Sea Fish, Turkey.