Seasonal variation of lipid content and fatty acid composition of Sardinella aurita from the Tunisian coast

This study was conducted to clarify the seasonal variation of the chemical composition of the Tunisian Sardinella aurita with a focus on the total lipid content. The chemical composition showed a large fluctuation over years in response to various factors. For the entire fish, lipid content was lower in July (2.50%), but higher in November (10.25%). It varies with seasons in inverse proportion to water content. Interestingly, it was found that red muscle have much higher lipid content than white muscle and the entire fish body. The major fatty acids in S. aurita lipids were palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and myristic acid. Palmitic acid comprised the main proportion (23.9%). The high amounts of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in the screened species are almost in agreement with other studies. Moreover, the percentage of omega-3 fatty acids (25%) was very similar to that in oil production commercial fish.