89A-8

A. PAL¹, D. L. Marshall¹, and L. S. Andrews². (1) Dept. of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Mailstop 9805, Mississippi State, MS 39762-9805, (2) Coastal Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State Univ., Experimental Seafood Processing Lab., 2710 Beach Blvd., Ste. 1-E, Biloxi, MS 39531-4401

There have been negative public opinions among U.S. consumers about imported Vietnamese basa fish (Pangasius bocourti) although no published data exists to support that basa is of inferior quality to U.S. channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). This study compared selected nutritional components of boneless, skinless fillets of the 2 fish species. Five frozen fillets from 5 different bags of channel catfish (224.62 ± 12.89 g) and basa fish (120.46 ± 17.76 g) were taken. To disregard glazing affect, fillets were thawed overnight and four composite samples of each fish were prepared and analyzed for moisture, ash, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, fatty acid profile, and cholesterol using AOAC methods. Proximate composition of the two species was similar except for moisture and crude fat. Fat was significantly greater in channel catfish. Moisture, ash, crude protein, and crude fat of channel catfish and basa fish were 78.8, 1.1, 15.6, and 5.8% and 83.7, 1.2, 13.8, and 1.8, respectively. Both fish were poor sources of crude fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. Channel catfish had 0.3% and basa fish had <0.1% crude fiber. Eicosapentaenoic acid was absent in basa fish while channel catfish had 0.56 mg/100g. Docosahexaenoic acid in basa fish was 1.3 mg/100g while none was measured in channel catfish. Saturated and unsaturated fatty acid contents in channel catfish were significantly greater than basa fish. Both fish species had low saturated fatty acid contents and would provide less than 22 g of saturated fat in a 2000 kcal per day diet as recommended by the USDA Dietary Guidelines in 2 to 3 fish servings. Also, cholesterol contribution by either fish would be less than 300 mg as recommended on the basis of 49.12 mg and 44.44 mg/100g in channel catfish and basa fish, respectively. These results showed that nutritionally both fish species were of substantially equal quality.

Session 89A, Aquatic Food Products: General
2:00 PM - 5:30 PM, Tuesday PM Room Hall I-2

2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana