Comparative of the chemical composition and measurements of body parts for two species of freshwater fish (Cyprinus carpio and Tilapia SP)

Abstract

 The study was conducted in the laboratories of the Department of Food Sciences at the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Damascus on two species of freshwater fish, common carp and tilapia SP, with an average of 15 fish of each specie, collected from a market in Damascus, in order to identify the chemical and morphological characteristics and thus determine nutritional value and utilization of these fish.

Results showed a difference between common carp fish and tilapia SP fish in edible parts and the chemical composition of meat. Common carp fish significantly (P<0.01) outperformed in the percentage of fat and the amount of meat energy, as well as in the percentage of trunk muscles and thus the percentage of inedible part of fish body were reduced compared to the tilapia SP fish, while the percentage of protein of tilapia SP fish meat was significantly higher.

Results also indicated the existence of strong and significant correlations between all body measurements in carp, and the consequent possibility of calculating significant predictive equations useful to calculate estimated values. On the contrary, there were no correlations between the tilapia SP fish body measurements