Abstract
This study was conducted to compare the effect of Sun drying and Oven drying on the nutritional composition of two fish species (Heteroclarias and Oreochromis niloticus). Ten freshly harvested catfish (Heteroclarias) and Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were shared into two parts; a part was sun - dried for 12 days (7 hours daily) between the hours of 9 a.m – 4 p.m at an average temperature range of 23 – 35.9℃, temperature range in Iworoko Ekiti between February – March (According to Norwegian Met Institute) and the other part was dried using laboratory electric oven at a temperature range of 80℃ for 5 days (4 hours daily). Each part was in three (3) replicates. The proximate compositions of the dried samples (Mean moisture, protein, lipid, ash, fibre, carbohydrate) were determined. The changes in moisture, protein and carbohydrate contents including energy value were found to be significant (P 0.05) for the two drying methods used in this study. The changes in the fibre contents was found to be significant (P 0.05) in the Oreochromis niloticus species for both processing methods. This result indicates that drying methods have effects on the proximate compositions of fish species (Heteroclarias and Oreochromis niloticus). The overall assessment showed that; for taste; the highest mean value recorded was 6.0 ± 0.0 and 5.3 ± 0.6 in Oven dried Heteroclarias and Oven dried Oreochromis niloticus respectively. The least mean value 3.0 ± 0.5 was recorded in the sun dried Oreochromis niloticus followed by 3.4 ± 0.6 in sun dried Heteroclarias. The result further indicated that there is significant difference between organoleptic qualities of oven dried and sun dried samples of the same fish species.
Highlights
Today food security is a major concern in Nigeria because of the increasing gap between population and rate of food production
This study is aimed at comparing the nutritional composition of Hetero-clarias and Oreochromis niloticus after processing with different processing techniques
The twenty fishes of both species were shared into two equal portions; ten was used for oven drying and the other ten for sun drying
Summary
Today food security is a major concern in Nigeria because of the increasing gap between population and rate of food production. Fish production remains a vital tool to promote food and nutritional security in Nigeria. Fish is a major source of protein and its harvesting, handling, processing and distribution provide livelihood for millions of people as well as is source of foreign exchange for many countries (Al-Jufaili and Opara, 2006). Fish is one of the most important sources of animal protein available in the tropics and has been widely accepted as a good source of protein and other elements for the maintenance of health of human beings (Andrew, 2001). Fish constitutes about 69.6% of the total supply of protein available to Nigeria. Consumption of fish provides an important nutrient to a large number of people worldwide and makes a very significant contribution to nutrition
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