FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 69, NO. 2 



Fatty Acids Identified 



Table 6 reports the fatty acids identified by 

 the method of gas-liquid chromatographic anal- 

 ysis described in the preceding section. 



Table 6. — Fatty acids identified in pig tissues. 



Twenty-eight fatty acids were identified in 

 the liver tissue, whereas a lesser number was 

 identified in the three other tissues (inner and 

 outer backfat and Io)n;issim us doisi) . The fatty 

 acids identified included those reported by Sink 

 et al. (1964) plus unsaturated 18, 20, 22 carbon 

 fatty acids of three of the fatty acid families 

 — co3, 0)6, and aj9 — according to current classi- 

 fication (Mohrhauer and Holman, 1963a). 



With respect to the two backfat tissues, the 

 acids found in addition to those reported by 

 Sink et al. (1964) are as follows: 15:1, 16:2. 

 20:1 aj9, 18:4 co3, 20:2 aj9. 20:3, 20:4 0)3, 

 20:. 5 0)3, 22:4 o)6, and 22:5 oj3. The liver 

 and lonf/isshmis dorsi tissue also contained 

 20:2 oj6, 21:1 w9, 22: 1, 22:5 w6, and 22:6 w3. 

 Ilill (1966) reported, however, the presence of 



most of these fatty acids in various tissues of 

 miniature pigs with the exception of 20:4 oj3, 

 which we found in our pigs. All of these fatty 

 acids, except 20:4 o)3, have also been noted in 

 rat tissue (Mohrhauer and Holman, 1963a, 

 1963b, 1963c) , and all of them including 20: 4 oj3, 

 have also been noted in chick tissue (Miller et 

 al., 1967), in fish tissues and in seal tissue 

 (Ackman, Burgher, and Jangaard, 1963; Ack- 

 man, Jangaard, Hoyle, and Brockerhoff', 1964). 



The relation of the fatty acids fed (A') to 

 those deposited in the various tissues (Y) was 

 established by correlation and polynomial re- 

 gression analyses. A polynomial regression 

 computer program prepared by the Biomedical 

 Division of the University of California, Los 

 Angeles, was used. The extent of analysis of 

 the data was limited to the fourth polynomial 

 degree. Regression coefficients, standard errors 

 of regression, correlation coefficients, analyses 

 of variance, and data plots (predicted and ob- 

 served) were obtained. 



Correlation and polynomial regression anal- 

 yses of the gas-liquid chromatographic data 

 presented in Tables 7 to 10 indicate that the 

 marine-type polyunsaturated fatty acids of the 

 linolenic acid (oj3) family were deposited in all 

 four tissues examined. 



In general, a significant positive correlation 

 was obtained between the quantity of the o>3 

 fatty acids fed and the quantity deposited in 

 the various tissues. This relation was not ob- 

 tained, however, with the longissimus dorsi tis- 

 sue. The only explanation we have is that the 

 reaction caused by difficulties in the extraction 

 of the fatty acids and their subsequent sepa- 

 ration masked any pattern. 



Definite relations between the amounts of 

 most of the o)3 fatty acids fed to pigs and the 

 amounts deposited were found in the liver tis- 

 sues and in the inner backfat tissues and the 

 outer ones. 



Specifically, the quantity of two of the men- 

 haden oil fatty acids (22:5 w3, and 22:6 o)3) 

 found in the liver was positively correlated 

 (0.01 'r ) with the quantity of oil fed to the pigs 

 until they were of market weight (90.9 kg) . The 

 correlation for 20:5 coS approached significance. 



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