Chemical and amino acid composition of four traditional foods consumed in the Arab Gulf states

Abstract

The chemical and amino acid compositions of four traditional foods commonly consumed in the Arabian Gulf states were investigated. These foods are two kinds of fermented fish sauces ( tareeh and mehiawah) and two types of bread made from data and cheese. The results indicated that tareeh had higher levels of protein, ash, Ca, Na, Mg, P and Zn than mehiawah, whereas the second fish sauce had higher amounts of moisture, fat, carbohydrates, Fe and K. For the breads, cheese bread ( khubez-jebin) had higher levels of protein, fat, ash, Ca, P and Na than date bread ( khubez-tamer). However, the breads made from dates were higher in most minerals (Fe, K, Mg, Cu and Zn) than cheese bread. The amino acid profiles in both fermented fish sauces were superior to those of date or cheese breads. It was concluded that these traditional foods can provide substantial amounts of nutrients to the normal daily diets of Arab Gulf inhabitants. Nevertheless, attention should be paid to the high sodium levels in fermented fish sauces.