Nutritional and Fatty Acids Profile Analyses of Commonly Consumed Fresh Water Fish Species in Pakistan

The aim of this study is to evaluate nutritional value of selected commonly consumed fresh water fish species of Pakistan. Proximate composition and fatty acids profile of mostly consumed fresh water fish species of Pakistan namely Balm or Baam (Anguilla anguilla), Sole (Channa marulius), Damra (Labeo rohita) and Malhi (Wallago atto) were analysed. Proximate composition data showed a significant difference (p<0.05) among the nutritional components except carbohydrate and gross energy contents. Protein and moisture contents found plenteous in the Baam (Anguilla anguilla) whereas ash and fat contents in Malhi (Wallagoatto) are found copious. Saturated Fatty Acids (SFAs) and Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFAs) found to be principal Fatty Acids (FAs) with their ranges from (48.43 to 65.76%) and (25.72 to 31.37%) respectively. In SFAs and MUFAs, palmitic acid (32.4 to 47.71%) and oleic acid (10.97 to 21.26%) were identified as major FAs respectively in all species. The existence of short and medium chain SFAs is advantageous for designation of these fish species as alterative diet as these above mentioned FAs not only involved in metabolic regulation but also helpful to remove the metabolic disparities related to Coronary Heart Diseases (CHD), brain seizure, Alzheimer disease, glucose homeostasis, appetite and gastric acid secretion. Among the PUFAs, Omega-6 PUFAs are found to be more abundant than Omega-3 with Linoleic acid (LA, C18:2ώ6) as predominant PUFA in A. anguilla (9.137%) and L. rohita (9.128%) and γ-linolenic acid (GLA, C18:3ώ6) and cis-8, 11, 14 Eicosatrienoic (hGLA, C20:3 ώ6) as most prevailing PUFAs in C. marulius (2.3%) and W. atto (1.61%) respectively. These species found to be a substantial source of Omega-6 PUFAs with ώ3/ώ6 ratio less than 1. The overall all summation of Eicosapentaenoic (EPA, C20:5 ώ3) acid and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6 ώ3) ranged from 0.38% in C. marulius to 1.93% in L. rohita.