Seasonal Variations in Total Lipid and Fatty Acid Composition of Haliotis discus Hannai from Three Different Production Zones

ABSTRACT

The lipid and fatty acid (FA) contents of abalone Haliotis discus hannai from Fujian, Qingdao, and Rongcheng, China were studied over four seasons. In spring, the lipid content of abalone from Rongcheng was significantly higher than Qingdao and Fujian, and there was no significant difference in other seasons. Palmitic acid was the major saturated fatty acid (SFA) in all seasons. Oleic acid was identified as the major monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA). Arachidonic acid (ARA) was the major polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), and C18:0 was the major dimethyl acetals (DMA) in all zones. Lipid composition changed significantly over the different zones according to the season. In Fujian, higher total lipid content was observed in the summer, whereas PUFA content peaked in spring. The highest fat content was observed in spring and autumn in Qingdao and Rongcheng, respectively. Abalone contains docosapentaenoic acid and trace amounts of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which was recorded in small quantities during the summer. In general, the DMA content was higher in spring and summer than in autumn and winter. These findings can be useful for identifying the origin of abalone and evaluating the utilization of by-products of this species in the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Seasons
• lipid content
• fatty acid composition
• abalone
• different zones

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Editage [www.editage.cn] for English language editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10498850.2021.1894287.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China [grant number 2018YFC0311201], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 31871867], and earmarked fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System [grant number CARS-49].