Comparison of the Whole Body Composition of Fatty Acids and Amino Acids between Reared and Wild Snakehead Fish Channa striata (Bloch 1793) Juveniles

The whole body compositions of fatty and amino acids of cultured and wild Channa striata (Bloch 1793) juveniles in Malaysia were compared. Whole body proximate analysis of both the wild and cultured revealed that moisture content ranged between 68.1 and 70.8%, 52.7 to 55.4% crude protein, 16.2 to 20.9% crude lipid and 15.1 to 21.0% ash, and did not significantly (P 0.05) differ among the samples. In the fatty acid (FA) analysis, arachidonic acid (20:4n6) was detected as the most abundant n-6 FA, whereas eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 22:6n3) was among the highest n-3 FA. Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) was also recorded in appreciable quantity among the FA classes tested. Amino acids (AA) analyses in the test samples revealed glutamic acid, glycine and aspartic acid to be the highest. Furthermore, all the essential amino acids were recorded in appreciable quantities in the reared and wild fish samples. Overall, results of the present study suggest that there is no significant (P 0.05) difference in the whole body contents of FA and AA between reared and wild C. striata juveniles. This suggests that both samples are suitable for the nutritional requirements for which the fish is popularly reared and consumed in the Asia Pacific region.