This paper describes the study of the fatty acid (FA) composition of three fish species (roach, perch, and pike) from Lake Gusinoe (western Transbaikalia). Using principal component analysis, the fatty acid composition of the studied fish species was shown to be species specific. The muscle tissue of roach, perch, and pike was found to contain high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), including essential docosahexaenoic (DHA), eicosapentaenoic (EPA), and arachidonic acids. Indicators of nutritional quality based on the fatty acid composition showed that the values of the hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic (HH) ratio indices were sufficiently high. The atherogenicity (AI) and thrombogenicity (TI) indices, which are indicators for the nutritional value, were less than 1 in the studied fish. In terms of flesh lipid quality (FLQ), pike and perch had the highest proportion of total EPA + DHA. According to the obtained data for the composition of fatty acids in the muscle tissue of the studied fish from Lake Gusinoe, the anthropogenic load exerted on Lake Gusinoe has not yet statistically significantly affected the fish muscle quality.
Keywords: Lake Gusinoe; fatty acids; freshwater fish; lipid quality indices.