Nutritive Composition of Some Edible Fin Fishes

The aim of the present study was to validate out the nutritive value of six important commercial fishes from India. Nutritive parameters which include carbohydrate, protein, fatty acid and Moisture content were estimated biochemically. The moisture content in the case of the two brackish water fishes namely Lates calcarifer and Mugil cephalus varies from 77.6 to 81.2% and the highest is found in L. calcarifer. Analysis of protein were carried out in the total number of six fishes inhabiting three ecosystems namely brackish, fresh and marine water ecosystem However, in the case of marine fishes the protein content showed much fluctuation. It ranged from 17.04 to 28.01%. In the case of Sardinella longiceps, the protein content is the lowest 17.04%. Catla catla exhibited lipid content of 1.5% where as in Oreochromis mossambicus the lowest value of 0.45% was observed. The highest amount of carbohydrate was found in the Lates calcarifer, the value being 20.8% where as in Mugil cephalus the carbohydrate content was 18.3% only. The fatty acid composition of the fresh water reported here show marked differences in quantities of polyunsaturated fatty acids especially C22:6n3 (Docosahexaenoic Acid) compared to various other species analyzed. Overall these data on fresh water fish particularly are highly unsaturated with a high concentration of C22: 6n3. From this investigation it is concluded that each habitat group of fishes has its own biological value.