Lipid composition of light and dark flesh from sockeye salmon

The five major lipid classes present in the light and dark flesh of 22 freshly caught sockeye salmon were separated by thin layer chromatography on silica gel using a two-stage development. Each class was then quantitatively analysed for fatty acid composition using gas chromatography. The dark flesh contains over eight times more lipid than does light flesh, and has a greater proportion of triglycerides and monounsaturated fatty acids. The predominant phospholipid in the light flesh is phosphatidylcholine, whereas in dark flesh it is phosphatidylethanolamine. Both light and dark flesh are rich sources of the nutritionally important omega-3 fatty acids.