Fatty acid content of some freshwater fish of commercial importance from tropical lakes in the Ethiopian Rift Valley

Fifty samples of freshwater fish, representing eight tropical species, were collected from Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes in order to study the variation of lipids and fatty acids (FA) both within and between species. Most specimens (36 samples) were low in fat, ≥5% of dry weight (dw). Medium‐ (nine samples) and high‐fat fish (five samples) contained ≤6% and >10% dw, respectively. The extent of variation was more pronounced in the herbivore Oreochromis niloticus than in the omnivorous (e.g. Barbus sp.) or carnivorous–piscivorous (Clarias gariepinus) fishes. Twenty‐eight FA of various chain lengths and saturation levels were identified. Most FA were unsaturated and long‐chained. The major individual FA were palmitic acid (16:0), stearic acid (18 : 0), oleic acid (18 : 1ω9) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (22 : 6ω3). The ω3/ω6 ratio varied considerably (1·1–7·6) and O. niloticus from Lake Haiq was found to be superior in lipid quality to all the tropical fish species considered in this study. The data show that tropical freshwater fish are comparable to temperate freshwater fish as sources of polyunsaturated FA.