en Fish processing Fish processing پژوهشي Orginal research papers <span style="FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif" FONT-SIZE: 12pt mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman' mso-bidi-language: AR-SA mso-ansi-language: EN-US mso-fareast-language: EN-US mso-bidi-font-style: italic">The chemical composition variations of the Indian mackerel </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif" FONT-SIZE: 12pt mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman' mso-bidi-language: AR-SA mso-ansi-language: EN-US mso-fareast-language: EN-US">(Rastrelliger kanagurta)</span></i><span style="FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif" FONT-SIZE: 12pt mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman' mso-bidi-language: AR-SA mso-ansi-language: EN-US mso-fareast-language: EN-US mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> from Karachi coast were investigated seasonally over the period of one year (2004-2005). <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Moisture, crude protein, fat and ash contents varied from 70.11-74.41%, 16.02- </font></font></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif" FONT-SIZE: 12pt mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman' mso-bidi-language: AR-SA mso-ansi-language: EN-US mso-fareast-language: EN-US mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">20.09%</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif" FONT-SIZE: 12pt mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman' mso-bidi-language: AR-SA mso-ansi-language: EN-US mso-fareast-language: EN-US mso-bidi-font-style: italic">, 3.0-12%, and 0.89-1.35% respectively. The seasonal data indicated that the main fatty acids of the total lipid were C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1, C20:5 and C22:6. Total contents of saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) percentages varied from 31.6-46.85%, 20.5-27.9%, and 26.8-40.85% respectively.<font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20: 5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22: 6n-3) of omega 3 series which have specific importance in nutritional values concept, were the major fatty acids. The lowest EPA and DHA were found to be in July and highest in November to March.</font></font></span> Chemical composition, Seasonal variation, Fatty acid, Rastrelliger kanagurta 67 74 http://jifro.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-60&slc_lang=en&sid=1 K. Nisa 10031947532846001081 10031947532846001081 No K. Asadullah asad_khoshhall@hotmail.com 10031947532846001082 10031947532846001082 Yes