Fatty-acid Profiles and Fingerprints of Seven Types of Fish Roes as Determined by Chemometric Methods.

The fatty acids in seven species of fish roes were determined by GC-MS in combination with principal component and cluster analyses in order to derive their fatty-acid profiles and fingerprints. Twenty-three common chromatography peaks were identified in the fatty-acid fingerprints of the seven fish roes. A total of 19 typical fatty acids were identified in the fish roes studied. The fatty acid contents of the roes were significantly different, with saturated-fatty-acid contents in the seven roes ranging from 26.69% to 41.81%, and the unsaturated-fatty-acid contents ranging from 57.65% to 72.21%, the total EPA and DHA content (37.20%) is high in E. cypselurus roe, especially. The seven roe species were clearly distinguished according to fatty-acid composition and content by principal component analysis (PCA) and divided into two groups by cluster analysis (CA). PCA of the fatty acid data yielded three significant PCs , which together account for 94% of the total variance; with PC1 contributing 54% of the total.