Comparative Assessment of Nutritional Composition in Raw and Cooked Indian Freshwater Fish Lepidocephalus thermalis (V.)

Abstract

Lepidocephalus thermalis, the Indian Spiny Loach is an IUCN least concern status edible freshwater fish with indigenous flavor and taste found endemic in Tamil Nadu. In this study, the proximate nutritional composition, amino acid, vitamin, fatty acid, micro and macro mineral analyses for raw and boiled fish samples were estimated instantaneously as cooking could lead to changes in the level of certain nutrients. This fish is with 33.09% saturated, 32.86% mono unsaturated and 30.49% polyunsaturated fatty acids. The predominant amino acids were glycine (715 mg/100 g), histidine (375 mg/100 g), alanine (237 mg/100 g) and arginine (130 mg/100 g). The fish comprised a good level of calcium (924 mg/100 g), zinc (0.14 mg/100 g) and iron (1.86 mg/100 g). Boiled fish had reduced level of certain amino acids like glycine (410 mg/100 g) and alanine (124 mg/100 g). There was no significant difference in the fatty acid composition in the boiled fish.