FATTY ACID PROFILE IN DIFFERENT AGE CATEGORIES OF FARMED RAINBOW TROUT (ONCORHYNCHUS MYKISS WALBAUM, 1792)

The objective of this study was to compare the fatty acid profile in different age categories of farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum, 1792) collected from the aquaculture facility-cold-water fish farm "Trofta"-located in the Republic of Kosovo.Considering the results of the fatty acid profile, SFA participated with 25.76 % (I age group), followed by 25.67 (II), 18.28 % (III), and 18.46 % (IV).There is an evident decrease in the SFA content with increased fish age.Of those, the most dominant are palmitic fatty acids (16.13; 16.31; 10.68; 10.69, respectively).The content of MUFA is rapidly increasing with the ages (31.28 % -I; 29.14 % -II; 46.01 % -III and 46.39 % -IV).Of those, the most dominant is an oleic fatty acid with a double increase from the 8 -9 to 12 -14-month-old fish (20.03 %; 18.21 %; 39.41 %; 40.48 %, respectively).PUFA participates with an average of 40.00 % in total fatty acid content, from which, the most dominant at the 8-and 9-monthold fish is cervonic fatty acid (27.68 and 30.40 %, respectively), with an evident decrease at 12-and 14-months fish (10.53 and 8.52 %, respectively).The biggest increase is determined in linoleic acid, starting with 4.95 and 4.22 % at 8 and 9-month-old fish, while the content at 12 and 14-month-old fish was enormously higher (14.73 and 16.70 %, respectively).