Distribution of α‐and γ‐tocopherols in Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar) tissues

• Published in: Lipids
• Main Authors: Parazo, Monina P. M., Lall, Santosh P., Castell, John D., Ackman, Robert G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1998
• Subjects: Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11745-998-0259-x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1007/s11745-998-0259-x

Abstract Groups of Atlantic salmon parr (mean initial weight 9.5 g) were fed three diets, the first containing no tocopherol supplement, the others supplemented with either all‐ rac ‐α‐tocopherol (A‐T) or RRR‐γ‐tocopherol (G‐T). Tocopherol concentrations in the liver, serum, testes, kidney, brain, gill, muscle, and perivisceral fat were measured after 36 wk. Despite a higher dietary intake of G‐T, compared to A‐T, deposition of γ‐tocopherol (γT) was less efficient than of α‐tocopherol (αT) in most tissues except in the perivisceral fat, an adipose tissue. In fish fed the G‐T diet, the γT/αT ratio was highest in the perivisceral fat and lowest in the liver, indicating that the liver is the most discriminatory organ for retaining αT as compared to γT, and the perivisceral fat is more suitable for the storage of γT. A negative correlation ( P <0.01) was observed between the γT/αT ratio and the corresponding tissue phospholipid content, suggesting that γT is less efficiently deposited compared to αT in the phospholipid‐rich membranes which are presumed to be the functional site for lipid antioxidants in vivo . During restricted intake of αT, the liver and muscle exhibited the greatest reduction of this tocopherol among the tissues analyzed. The presence of minimal αT in the muscle from fish fed the tocopherol‐unsupplemented diet led to greater susceptibility to lipid peroxidation after frozen storage than was the case for muscle containing higher concentrations of either αT or γT. However, both αT and γT were effective stabilizers of salmon muscle lipids during frozen storage.