The body composition of low value fish and their preparation into a higher value snack food

Abstract

In Kenya, marine catfish (Galeichthys feliceps) and ribbonfish (Trichurus lepturus) are both under- utilized species from the prawn fishery where they occur as by-catch or discards. They represent a potentially valuable source of protein mince. The current study assessed the feasibility of increasing the value of this by-catch by testing its suitability to the production of snack foods which was prepared with locally available flour from rice, wheat and maize. The ratio of fish mince to flour, the carbohydrate component, was tested in the snack foods at rations of 2.5:1; 2:1 and 1:1. An untrained taste panel using a hedonic scale of 1 to 9 tested preference. Protein content, fat, moisture, amino acid and fatty acid composition are reported and both indicate the nutritional suitability of the selected fish. The overall order for preference was ribbonfish with rice then ribbonfish with wheat, catfish with rice, ribbonfish with maize and catfish with wheat. Rice was preferred for value addition and ribbonfish was the preferred fish in the formulations.