NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND ORGANOLEPTIC ASSESSMENT OF PACKAGED SPICED CLARIAS GARIPINUS

ABSTRACT

The African catfish (Clarias gariepinus), which is present in large biomass in Nigeria, is generally regarded an underutilized fish species. A try was made to add value, with the aim of producing fish crackers. Fish crackers are foods which contain comminuted fish and are categorized as “half products” and “intermediate products”. The purpose of this study was to determine nutritional value and organoleptic assessment of spiced Clarias gariepinus cracker. Two natural preservative were developed and their proximate analysis were analyzed as per standard established methods. Sensory attributes were carried out by 15 naïve panelists to evaluate their consumers’ acceptance. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS for Windows (Version 25).The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) of all parameters showed significant differences (P< 0.05) among the prepared fish crackers with significantly better results (P< 0.05) for ginger spiced treated crackers. The moisture, crude protein, fat, crude fiber, ash content and carbohydrate content of the fish crackers ranged from 4.450–7.800%, 21.790-31.730%, 13.020-16.300%, 0.390-1.950%, 3.920-5.190% and 40.780-50.600% respectively. The 10 point Hedonic scale rating of the fish crackers rated by 15 naïve panelists revealed a significant difference (P< 0.05) for the control than all spiced treated crackers in terms of appearance, aroma and texture but ginger treated spiced cracker was better in taste compared to other samples. Significantly better results (P < 0.05) were observed for the control, whereas the results of other samples were also acceptable. Findings of this investigation can also be helpful for the commercial production of valueadded, nutritious fish crackers from low-value catfish.