Abstract

Annaian Shanmugam, Chendur Palpandi* and Subramanium Sambasivam

The fatty acid composition of the wedge clam Donax cuneatus collected from the sandy beach of Cuddalore (southeast coast of India) was determined. In the analysis, the fatty acid profile by gas chromatography revealed the presence of higher amount of saturated fatty acids (35.28%) than mono (12.71%) and polyunsaturated (11.72%) fatty acids. Among the saturated fatty acids, the stearic acid contributed the maximum amount of 15.68%. Whereas the monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were accounted for 26.57% with mostly 16:17c (12.71%), fatty acid. Among the PUFA 20:4 6c (6.75%) and 18:2 6c (2.41%) acid contents were high. Omega – 6 fatty acids accounted for 10.74% of total PUFA and omega – 3 fatty acids were accounted for 0.48%. Thus the present study enlightens the possible role of this clam in the field of human nutrition.