Nusrat N. Memon

A Comparison of Proximate Composition And Fatty Acid Profile of Indus River Fish Species

Eight species of freshwater fish from the Indus River were analyzed for their proximate composition and fatty acid (FA) profile. Differences were observed (P < 0.05) for moisture (59.95–79.45%), ash (0.05–4.95%), crude protein (17–20.09%) and lipid (0.85–18.32%) contents. The changes in FA profiles of fish species were significant (P < 0.05). The monounsaturated (MUFA) fatty acid content (24.55–48.35 g/100 g) was higher than the saturated fatty acid (SFA) (25.04–41.02 g/100 g) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (15.72–35.34 g/100g). The predominant PUFAs were eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5 n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6 n-3). All of the fish species had n-3/n-6 within the recommended values (1–4), which confirms he importance of River Indus fish as a significant dietary source of n-3 PUFA.

Adsorption of Selected Pesticides from Aqueous Solutions Using Cost effective Walnut Shells

In the present studies efforts are made to develop a low cost method to remove pesticides from water streams. Low cost walnut shells after chemical and thermal treatment are used to remove carbofuran and Chloropyriphos pesticides from aqueous solutions. The adsorption parameters i.e. pH, contact time, shaking speed and initial concentration have been studied. The adsorption was found to be rapid 97-99% within 30 min. The adsorption of pesticides on the adsorbent surface was found to be pH dependent. The adsorbent material was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy. Elution experiments were performed to recover the adsorbed pesticide from the adsorbent surface. The Freundlich, Langmuir, D-R and Thomas models were used to study the partitioning behavior for the adsorption system along with kinetic and thermodynamic studies. The proposed adsorption method was utilized to remove carbofuran and Chloropyriphos pesticides from environmental water samples. Key word: Adsorption; pesticides; Walnut shell; Isotherms, Kinetics; thermodynamics.

Essential long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in muscle tissue of freshwater fish Labeo calbasu under different cooking processes

The effect of different cooking methods (Raw, steaming, microwave cooking, baking, grilling, pan frying and deep frying) on proximate composition and fatty acid profile of Labeo calbasu fish species from Pakistan were analyzed to determine the nutritional qualities in terms of the long chain n-3 PUFA particularly EPA and DHA. In all cooking methods moisture content decrease and protein content increased as compare to raw sample. The moisture content of fish sample seemed to be inversely related to the total extractable lipid content. In steamed, microwave, baked, grilled and pan fried methods MUFA were the abundant fatty acids followed by SFA and PUFA. Deep fried fish sample had the opposite trend having highest PUFA as contrast to MUFA and SFA. Long chain n-3 PUFA were found higher in contrast to n-6 PUFA in all other cooking methods excluding deep frying. The results indicates that steamed and grilled cooking are the best cooking method for healthy eating as they contain more n-3 PUFA (EPA and DHA). Losses of n-3 content in pan fried and deep fried fish were higher than those of fish cooked by other methods.