Comparative Studies on the Nutrients, Sensory and Storage Qualities of Moon-Fish (Citharinus citharus Geoffery Saint-Hilaire 1809) Pre-Treated with Extracts from Two Spices

Abstract

Comparative effects of soaking Citharinus citharus with extracts from two spices (Black pepper=Piper guineense and Ginger=Zingiber officinale) prior to oven drying using Nutrients and Organoleptic assessments as parameters were studied. Seventy two freshly caught Moonfish weighing 875 ± 25 g were killed, weighed, gutted and washed thoroughly with portable tap water and were divided into two batches of 36 fish each. Each batch was sub-divided into 3 groups of 12 fish per treatment made up of a triplicate, i.e., 4 fish per replicate in a completely randomized design. The fish in first batch was divided into 3 treatments of 12 fish and were immersed for 30 minutes in composite solution containing 3% brine and extract of Piper guineense at 0%, 2% and 5% concentration coded as BP0, BP2 and BP5 respectively; the control treatment contained no Black pepper (BP0). Similar operations were carried out on the second batch of fish soaked in composite solution containing same concentration of brine as hitherto but with varying concentration of ginger extract (Zingiber officinale) at 0%, 2% and 5% for 30minutes coded as GE0, GE2 and GE5 respectively; the control treatment was soaked in 3% brine only without ginger extract (GE0). All fish pre-treated were allowed to drain for five minutes, oven-dried for 5 hours at the temperature range of 80°C-90°C and allowed to cool at room temperature. Results from proximate analysis showed that the use of composite mixture of brine and spices extract increased the crude protein (CP) content of fish linearly (p 0.05) in sensory qualities between the two experiments pre-treated with black pepper and ginger. These data above indicated that fish pre-treated with composite solutions of brine and extract of two spices (Piper guineense and Zingiber officinale) prior to oven drying have potentials to improve nutrients assay and storage qualities on Moonfish