Lipid Composition of Molluscs from Adriatic Sea: Clam Anadara inaequivalvis versus Clam Chamelea gallina

Clam Anadara inaequivalvis (A. inaequivalvis) is a mollusc having Indo-Pacific origin and currently living also in several areas of the Mediterranean Sea, where it probably arrived due to maritime transport, attached to the boats’ hulls or carried in the ballast water1. Despite its nutritional value, similar to that of the more appreciated clam Chamelea gallina, (C. gallina), it has not cornered the market as food, thus fishermen must pick it out from the other molluscs2. However, its chemical composition makes A. inaequivalvis interesting as a possible source of functional lipids, such as ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3-PUFAs) and phospholipids (PLs) rich in ω3-PUFAs. In our study, we evaluated the actual fatty acid composition of this mollusc by applying several methods for extracting lipids. The extract has been further investigated for determining the lipid composition and particularly the PLs fraction. A picture of the total lipid composition has been obtained through SPE purification3 of the extract and TLC analysis. The first results suggest that phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylinositol (PI) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) are the main PLs of the extract. A comparison with the clam C. gallina is also under consideration. Methods and preliminary results will be presented