Phospholipids composition and molecular species of large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea) roe

•Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5) were the major polyunsaturated fatty acids from phospholipids (PLs) of Pseudosciaena crocea roe.•Both HPLC-ELSD and UPLC-Q-TOF-MS were used to identify PLs classes and molecular species of phospholipids from Pseudosciaena crocea roe, respectively.•PC and PE were detected as the predominant PLs classes in P. crocea roe. The research aims to study phospholipids (PL) classes and molecular species of large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea) roe. Both gas chromatographymass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light-scattering detection (HPLC-ELSD) were utilized to analyze and identify the PLs fatty acids compositions and classes in the P. crocea roe, respectively. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5) account for 35.0% and 6.9% of the PLs. Phosphatidylcholines (PC), lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC), phosphatidylethanolamines (PE) and phosphatidylinositols (PI) account for 76.36 ± 0.62%, 12.30 ± 0.55%, 9.12 ± 0.02% and 1.09 ± 0.01% of the total PLs, respectively. In addition, the PLs molecular species were characterized by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadruple-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). A total of 92 PLs molecular species was identified, including 49 PCs, 13 PEs, 10 phosphatidic acids (PAs), 13 phosphatidylserines (PSs), 3 phosphatidylglycerols (PGs), 2 sphingomyelins (SMs), and 2 PIs of the P. crocea roe.