Chemical composition of the muscle tissue of ray (Raja radiata) from Terranova

The proximate analysis, nitrogen compound content and lipid and fatty acid analysis of the muscle of frozen ray (Raja radiata) caught in Terranova have been studied. The proximate analyses of the muscle were: 15 % real protein, 1 % non-protein nitrogen, 78 % humidity and a fatty acid content lower than 1%. The urea reaches values of 2%. In the lipid fraction 14 fatty acids were identified. Palmitic acid (16:0) and stearic acid (18:0) were the majority fatty acids and represent 61.55 % and 33-86%, of the total saturated fatty acids. Oleic acid (18:1) was the most abundant of the monounsaturated fatty acids and corresponds to 72.72 % of the total of these. Arachidonie acid (20:4), eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6) were the most predominant polyunsaturated acids, forming 12.95, 57.22 and 23.67 % of the total of polyunsaturated fatty acids respectively. The results show that the lipid fraction of the ray (Raja radiata) is an excellent source of polyunsaturated fatty acids with high levels of omega-3 (n-3) especially the eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids