Biochemical quality and heavy metal content of fish meal and squid meal produced in Veraval, Gujarat

Abstract

The present study aimed to compare the biochemical quality including toxic heavy metal content of the fish meal and squid meal produced in commercial units in Veraval, Gujarat. Moisture and crude lipid contents were 10.9% and 4.1% for fish meal where as for squid meal the values were 9.2% and 3.1%, respectively. The crude protein content of both the meals was over 60%. Bulk density and water holding capacity was significantly higher for squid meal compared to fish meal. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed for total volatile bases and lipid oxidation products such as peroxide value and free fatty acids, with higher values for squid meal compared to fish meal. Concentration of toxic heavy metals viz., cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) were detected in both fish and squid meal where as mercury content was not observed in both the samples. Higher cadmium content was observed in squid meal (2.45 to 14.1 ppm) compared to fish meal (0.22 to 4.4 ppm) whereas lead content was higher for fish meal (4.6 to 18.2 ppm) compared to squid meal (0.46 to 1.77 ppm). Nickel content was in the range of 0.91 to 12.6 ppm in fish meal and 1.1 to 5.6 ppm in squid meal.