Proximate Composition, Fatty Acid and Mineral Contents of Four Freshwater Fish from Maga Lake (Far North Region of Cameroon)

Abstract

A study was conducted to explore the proximate composition, the fatty acids profile and the mineral contents of four freshwater fish namely mullet (Liza falcipins), carp (oreochromis niloticus), catfish (Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus) and kanga (Heterotis niloticus) collected from Maga Lake in Far North Region of Cameroon. It was been observed that moisture content (~78 g/100g fresh weight (FW) not varied between species (P>0.05). Nevertheless, ash content varied significantly (P<0.05) between species and carp presented a high ash content (9.04 g/100g dry weight (DW). The total lipid content was generally high, ranging from 18.88 to 55.19 g/100g DW. With regard to protein content, these fresh fish contained more than 39 g/100g DW. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed in some fatty acids within the fish species analyzed. All these fish except carp were high in saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid, respectively. C16:0 and C18:1(n-9) were the predominant fatty acid in all fish analyzed (20-24 and 21-33 % repectively). The others major fatty acids detected were C18:2ω-6, C18:0 and C16:1ω-7. Although these four freshwater fish contained reasonable content of important polyunsaturated fatty acid such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acids, catfish presented the highest content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). These fish contained appreciable ratio ω-3:ω-6 suggesting that these fish especially carp could be used as a source of healthy diet for humans. The fish analyzed have a good supply of minerals and can be used for enhancing mineral intake and protecting population from mineral deficiency disease.