Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids Potential of Smoked and Boiled Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus)

Razaq A. Mustapha¹,*Opeyemi Bolajoko¹ and O. O. Akinola²

¹Nutrition and Dietetics Department, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria

²Nutrition and Dietetics Department, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State, Nigeria.

Boiled and smoked catfish (Claria geriepinus) were evaluated in order to know omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids potential of these processed fishes. Samples were analyzed for their fatty acids using modified AOAC methods and gas chromatography (gc). Findings shows that linoleic (Ω-6), alpha-linolenic (Ω-3) and gamma-linolenic were significantly higher in boiled catfish and covered respectively 9.0351^e-7, 9.56501^e-5 and 2.76276^e-5 area when subjected to gas chromatography compared to the smoked cat fish. Also, both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were present in appreciable amount in the processed samples. Therefore, catfish can serve as a potential source of essential fatty acids to human nutrition particularly in Nigeria where cat fish consumption is growing popular.

Cat fish; fatty acids; omega-3 and omega-6.

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