Lipids and Fatty Acid Composition of Dried Edible Red and Black Ants

Total lipid contents,lipid classes and fatty acid compositions of hot-air dried edible black ants(Polyrhachis vicina Roger)from Wenzhou and Guizhou,China,and edible red ant(Oecophylla sraaragdina Fabrieius)from Thailand were determined.The major lipid components were triacyiglycerol(43.4-79.4% of total lipid),followed by phospholipids(6.1-21.5%),diacylglycerol(6.1-18.1%)and cholesterol ester(4.9-13.5%)while free fatty acids(1.8-2.9%)and sterol(0.5-0.8%)were the minor components.Oleic acid(C18:1)was the most predominant fatty acid,accounting for 3 407.8,9098.8 and 3 790.1 mg 100 g-1 in Wenzhou and Guizhou black ants,and Thai red ant,respectively.Followed by palmitic acid(C16:0),922.9,2 523.3 and 1 511.8 mg 100 g-1; linoleic acid(C18:2n-6),133.7,305.2 and 506.4 mg 100 g-1;α-linolenic acid(C18:3n-3),35.1,138.0 and 52.5 mg 100 g-1; eicosapentaenoic acid(C20:5n-3)was 19.1,15.0 and 20.0 mg 100 g-1 in Wenzhou and Guizhou black ants,and Thai red ant,respectively.Docosapentaenoic acid(C22:5n-3)was only found in black ants,7.0and 7.3 mg 100 g-1 for Wenzhou and Guizhou ants,respectively.The edible black and red ants were shown to be a good source of unsaturated fatty acid.