Proximate composition of three marine fishes of Chandipur, Bay of Bengal, India

Abstract

Marine fishes have been recognized for high quality protein and essential fatty acids which play a vital role in human being for nutrition, disease prevention and quality of fish is assessed from biochemical composition only. Present study was carried out to analyze the biochemical composition % of three economically important fish species Hilsa ilisha, Sillago sihama and Mugil cephalus in Chandipur, Bay of Bengal on seasonal basis from March 2010 to February 2011 for a period of 2 years. Moisture content was highest in S. sihama (57.83 ±0.73) whereas protein and lipid % (21.89 ±0.42, 19.33 ±0.27) in H. ilisha. Ash content was independent of sex, size and season. No significant differences were observed (F =3.809, F =35.402, F =2955.39, P≤0.01) between H. ilisha and M. cephalus (Duncans Multiple Range Test). Result demonstrated that moisture content was high when lipid was low indicating inverse relationship with each other and lipid content was much more in H. ilisha than other two species.