Quality and safety aspect of some traditionally processed freshwater fish and fishery products of mymensingh district in Bangladesh

This research was conducted to assess the quality and safety aspect of important processed fish and fishery products prepared from freshwater fishes of the Brahmaputra river of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh. Three sun-dried fish, one semi-fermented fish product and a salted fish product, and frozen prawn were included in this research. Among the sun-dried fishes Mystus tengra, Amblypharringodon microlepin and Wallago attu were included in this research. Semi-fermented product prepared from Puntius stigma was included in this research. Salted fish prepared from Hilsa ilisha was included in the present research. Frozen freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) was also included in this research. All samples were purchased from Fish Market of Mymensingh city. The samples were assessed by sensory quality test (Organoleptic test), estimation of nutritional composition e.g. Protein, Lipid, Ash, Moisture, TVB-N, TMA-N and heavy metal concentration e.g. Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu, Zn in laboratory experiments. Organoleptically the processed fish and fishery products of this research were excellent. The SDP was <2 in almost all samples which indicated excellent condition i.e. Grade A. The protein content of the processed fish and fishery products was between 18.5% in frozen prawn to 56.20% in sun-dried fish. Lipid content was between 2.15 % to 20.09%, ash content was between 1.24% to 19.07% and moisture content was between 18.88% to 79.65%. The TVB-N value of frozen freshwater prawn was 9.65 mg/100g. Whereas in sun-dried fish, salted fish, semi-fermented fish the TVB-N value was between 72.8 mg/100g to 87.28 mg/100g. The TMA-N value of the samples of present research was between 3.19 mg/100g to 9.68 mg/100g. The Cd concentration of the samples was below the maximum allowable limit (<1 ppm) except in sun-dried Mystus tengra. The Cr concentration in all samples was above maximum allowable limit (>0.05 ppm). The Pb concentration of all samples was above maximum allowable limit (>2 ppm). The Cu concentration of the samples was below maximum allowable limit (<10 ppm) except frozen freshwater prawn. The Zn concentration of the samples was below the maximum allowable limit (100 ppm) except sun-dried Kechki. Results of the present research indicated that the processed freshwater fish and fishery products possessed excellent sensory quality, nutritional quality, freshness quality. The materials are reasonably safe to eat with careful selection.