Comparative account on nutritional analysis of fresh and sun-dried fish species, Amblypharyngodon mola, Cabdio morar and Chanda nama

Fishes are good sources of varied macro and micronutrients. However, being highly perishable, different post-harvest methods such as sun-drying are employed to preserve fish for a longer time. The present study has been conducted to determine the proximate composition and mineral content of fish species namely, mblypharyngodon mola, Cabdio morar and Chanda nama in fresh and sun-dried conditions. The moisture, crude protein, crude fat, ash and carbohydrate content of the fresh and sun-dried A. mola, C. morar, and C. nama revealed significantly higher (p<0.05) moisture content in the fresh fish samples than in sun-dried samples. While, significantly higher (p<0.05) crude protein, crude fat, ash and carbohydrate contents were obtained in the sun-dried samples in comparison to the samples in fresh condition. The microbiological load of the selected sun-dried fish samples ranged from 56.33±6.51 x103 cfu/g to 75.67±4.04x103 cfu/g. The present study aims to highlight the nutritional advantages of consuming sun-dried fish thereafter safeguarding nutritional security across a greater population.