Abstract
The proximate, minerals, amino acid and fatty acid composition of wild, pond-, gher- and cage-cultured tilapia in Bangladesh were evaluated and varied significantly (p < 0.05). The major component of the tilapia was moisture (79.12%-81.36%), followed by protein (14.93%-16.03%), lipid (0.59%-2.35%), carbohydrate (1.23%-1.51%), fibre (0.47%-0.88%), ash (0.31%-0.53%); the energy value was between 97.62 and 126.73 kcal/100 g. Macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients were detected in following order: K > Na > Mg > Ca and Fe > Mn, respectively in all the tilapia and the ratio of Na/K was <1. Essential amino acids, leucine (1.47-1.56 g/100 g) and lysine (1.66-1.74 g/100 g), were the predominant amino acids in tilapia, followed by non-essential amino acids, aspartic acid (1.72-1.84 g/100 g) and glutamic acid (2.88-3.07 g/100 g). Saturated palmitic acid (25.4%-35.54%), monounsaturated elaidic acid (31.51%-35.63%) and polyunsaturated linolenic acid (17.69%-22.57%) were the main fatty acids found in tilapia. The desirable protein percentage, Na/K ratio, the presence of essential amino acids, leucine and lysine, n-3 and n-6 fatty acid contents proved that the consumption of wild, pond-, gher- and cage-cultured tilapia are beneficial to human health and could be recommended to prevent different diseases particularly of cardiovascular type.