Ten lots of mapará (
Hypophthalmus sp.), captured from the Amazon River, Brazil, were analyzedfor their lipid content and fatty acid composition. This knowledge would allow for the developmentof adequate processing methods and the formulation of therapeutic diets. Separation into neutraland phospholipids was accomplished by silica-gel column chromatography. Fat from the musculartissue and from the orbital cavity of the mapará was analyzed by high-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in two different seasonal periods. There were high levels of saturatedand monounsaturated fatty acids in the total and neutral lipid with the principal components 16:0,18:1
9, 18:0, 16:1
7, 14:0, 18:3
3, and 18:1
7 in both seasons. In the phospholipids there was ahigh level of polyunsaturated fatty acids, including primarily 16:0, 18:1
9, 18:0, 16:1
7, 22:6
3,20:4
6, 18:3
3, and 20:5
3. The ratio
3/
6 was the same in the muscular tissue and in the orbitalcavity, in both seasonal periods. The muscle tissue could be used in diets that need high levels ofpolyunsaturated fatty acids, but use of the head to produce an
3 fatty-acid-rich oil still requiresgreater study with respect to its economic viability.Keywords: Freshwater fish; fatty acid composition; seasonal variation; Amazon River