Fatty acid composition of the meat and fat of the one-humped camel (camelus dromedarius)

The fatty acid composition of lean raw meat taken from the hind leg of seven young (1-3 years of age) male one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius) has been determined by capillary gas-liquid chromatography; fat samples taken from the hump of these seven camels were also analysed. The saturated fatty acids in the meat account for 51·5% of the total fatty acids, while the monosaturated and polyunsaturated chains constitute 29·9 and 18·6%, respectively. The major fatty acids in camel meat are palmitic (26·0%), oleic (18·9%) and linoleic (12·1%), with smaller amounts of other fatty acids, both normal and branched, that range in chain lengths from C(14) to C(22). The fatty acids of dromedary fat are dominated by saturated even-numbered chains with smaller amounts (5·4%) of odd-numbered normal and branched chains. The main fatty acid of the hump fat is palmitic (34·4%) followed by oleic (28·2%), myristic (10·3%) and stearic (10·0%).