Proximate composition and biochemical quality of small indigenous fish species of North-East India

Proximate and the biochemical quality of 26 indigenous fresh water fish species which are commonly available in North-East India were studied to set up database on the quality of freshwater fishes. The fish species had average length of 3.1 to 20.4 cm and average weight of 1.4 to 69.7 g. The moisture, crude protein, fat and ash contents were: 63.0-81.0, 11.3-23.7, 2.5-11.5 and 1.2-7.5%, respectively. The specific heat of the species was in the range of 0.756-0.875 kcal/kg degrees C. The salt soluble nitrogen was 29.9-72.9% of total protein. The non-protein nitrogen content was 0.2-0.7%. The total volatile base nitrogen and alpha-amino nitrogen content of the fishes ranged from 0.6 to 12.6 and 1.9 to 40.8 mg%, respectively. The pH was 6.5-7.2. A significant difference (p < 0.01) in proximate composition and specific heat between the different fish species studied was observed. The small indigenous fishes available in the markets of North-East India were found to be of fresh quality.