Quality Change of Fatty Acids in Oils Extracted from Oven - Dried and Smoked Clarias gariepinus based on Length of Drying and Smoking as Index

Abstract

This research assessed the quality change of fatty acids in oils extracted from Clariasgariepinus using the length of smoking and oven drying as an index. The fish was oven dried and smoke dried for 8 hours per day for a duration of five days. The fatty acids of the oil from smoked and oven dried fish were extracted with n-hexane using a soxhlet-extraction technique. The fatty acid profile was determined by Gas Chromatography, the results were subjected to analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA). The total saturated fatty acids (TSFA) of oven dried samples ranged from 34.0 – 39.7% and the total unsaturated fatty acids (TUFA) ranged from 60.3 – 65.9%. The total saturated fatty acids (TSFA) of smoked fish ranged from 30.2 – 35.1% and the total unsaturated fatty acids (TUFA) ranged from 64.7 – 69.7%.The TUFA of both oven dried fish and smoked fish samples were greater than that of TSFA. Oven dried fish of day 4 and Smoke dried fish of day 4 had the highest TUFA and lowest TSFA of all the samples which implies that their oils are good for consumption. The study showed that the smoked fish for day 4 is the best of all extracted oil sample due to its highest TUFA and lowest TSFA values.