Compositional characteristics of muscle and visceral oil from steelhead trout and their oxidative stability

The quality of lipid from steelhead trout viscera, a byproduct of steelhead trout industry, was evaluated and compared with that of the muscle. Steelhead trout viscera had a higher lipid content than muscle and the visceral oil differed from muscle oil in its lipid class composition. Neutral lipids, mainly triacylglycerols (TAG), comprised the major lipid class in both muscle and visceral lipid. However, as expected, muscle contained a remarkably higher level of phospholipids (PL) than viscera, and the ratio of total neutral lipids to polar lipids was lower in muscle than in viscera. Visceral and muscle lipid had similar fatty acid compositions, with the concentration of muscle polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) slightly higher than that of visceral PUFA. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) were the major n-3 PUFA present in both muscle and visceral lipid; docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) was present at about 1.61–1.76%. With respect to minor components, muscle lipid had higher α-tocopherol and total carotenoids contents than visceral lipid. Oxidative stability of visceral and muscle lipid, as determined by conjugated dienes (CD) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), showed that visceral lipid was more stable against oxidation than muscle lipid, probably due to their different lipid profiles. Besides, carotenoids, which were present more abundantly in muscle, might have acted as prooxidants and therefore, decreased the oxidative stability of muscle lipid. These results suggest that steelhead trout viscera may serve as a good source of lipid and could be utilized for production of omega-3 oils.