Fatty Acids Analysis Of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) At Different Post Harvest Treatments

Abstract

African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) is one of the fishery resources in Malaysia. The traditional post harvest treatment or preservation techniques and its relation to the composition of fatty acid were analyzed. The objective of this study is to determine the fatty acids composition of African catfish at four post harvest treatment salting, pickling, smoking and freezing. After treatments, the lipid was extracted and the lipids were purified by Thin- Layer Chromatoghraphy (TLC). Then, the samples were analyzed by gas chromatoghraphy, Flame Ionize Detector (GC-FID) to determine the fatty acids composition. Total lipids concentration was significantly higher in smoking (0.23 ± 0.05 g/g) compared to other treatments. Twenty fatty acid components were identified in the tissue of African catfish. The dominant fatty acid was oleic acid (18: 1ω 9) in all the samples. Saturated fatty acids (SAFAs) were not significantly different after treatments. Besides that, the most dominant polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFAs) was (18: 3 ω 3, 18: 2 ω 6, and 18: 3 ω 6). The mean concentration of PUFA was significantly higher in freezing treatment (26.0 ± 3.7 %) compared to other treatments. Analysis of the fatty acid composition of African catfish at four different post harvest treatments imply that after preservation the fatty acid composition which is PUFA omega 3 and omega 6 of African catfish was changed but still existed for human diet.