Fatty acid processing yield of smoke-dried clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) using two different smoking kilns at varying temperatures

Abstract

Smoke-dried fish is an integral protein source in many Nigerian diets, processed by smoke-drying and sold for income. The study aimed to describe the fatty acid yield of smoke-dried African mudfish (average weight of 350 ± 100 g) using traditional drum kiln (TDK) and eco-friendly kiln (EFK) while storing at ambient (28⁰C) and control (14⁰C) temperatures. In the smoke-dried mudfish, a total of 25 fatty acids (7 Saturated, 9 Monounsaturated and 9 polyunsaturated) were identified. Under ambient temperature storage, saturated fatty acid (SFA) was found to be higher in fish smoked with TDK than fish smoked with EFK. Palmitic acid was the main component of saturated fatty acid followed by stearic acid. Under control temperature, unsaturated fatty acid content was found to be higher in EFK-smoked fish than in TDK-smoked fish, and these values were higher compared to those of SFAs. Petroselinic acid has been noted as a dominant MUFA in both TDK (16.08 ± 0.23 %) and EFK-smoked (16.98 ± 0.19 %) samples. Among the PUFAs, docosahexaenoic, arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids were the dominant in the smoke-dried fish. The results indicate that kiln type and different storage temperature affect the fatty acid composition of Clarias gariepinus.

Keywords: African mudfish, Clarias gariepinus, Smoke-dried fish, Fatty acids yield, Traditional drum, Eco-friendly kiln