COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION AND SENSORY ATTRIBUTES OF SMOKED-DRIED Heterotis niloticus, Clarias gariepinus AND Oreochromis niloticus FROM LAKE CHAD BASIN, NIGERIA

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The nutritional and organoleptic qualities of smoke-dried Heterotis niloticus, Clarias gariepinus and
Oreochromis niloticus from Lake Chad basin were evaluated. Twenty fresh samples of each species were
collected, pre-processed, and smoked following standard method. The analysis carried out include proximate,
amino acid, fatty acid and sensory evaluation using standard procedures. Data obtained was subjected to Analysis
of Variance (ANOVA). Results of proximate analysis show significant high crude protein in O. niloticus
(67.67±2.10 %) and H. niloticus (67.89±1.64 %) compared to C. gariepinus (62.81±2.21 %). Clarias gariepinus
had considerably high ash content (17.40±2.23 %), while crude fat (13.19±1.10 %) and carbohydrate (2.42±0.30
%) were notably high in O. niloticus. A total of eighteen amino acids (AAs) were observed in all the smoked fish
samples at varying levels. Glutamic acid (7.20±0.05–9.77±0.06 g 100g-1), aspartic acid (6.13±0.06–8.09±0.13 g
100g-1), leucine (5.90±0.04–7.66±0.05 g 100g-1), and phenylalanine (5.95±0.05–7.46±0.03 g 100g-1) were the
most prevalent amino acids in the three fishes. Nine fatty acids (FAs) with different saturation levels were
identified in the fish samples and H. niloticus contained significantly higher unsaturated FAs (55.77±0.20 mg g
1). The sensory taste score was significantly higher in C. gariepinus (4.68±0.63) and Oreochromis niloticus
(4.54±0.52) than H. niloticus (3.69±1.03). The three smoked fish products especially H. niloticus and O. niloticus
were found to be a good source of protein, amino acids, and Omega-6 fatty acid.