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The small indigenous fishes (SIFs) are known to be micronutrient rich and they are also cheap sources of quality animal proteins. The genus Puntius comprises of about 134 very beautiful species, out of which Puntius sophore is an important species. Although certain aspects of nutrient composition of some members of this genus are available in literature, comprehensive nutrient profile is not available. In the present study, we report the nutrient profile of P. sophore, collected from ponds and wetlands in and around Kolkata, West Bengal. The proximate composition analysis showed that the fish is rich in proteins and minerals. The amino acid profiles showed that the level of essential amino acid histidine (22.94 ± 0.01 %) is very high among all the amino acids. Although this fish contains low amount of fat (5 %), the fatty acid profile showed that the fish is rich in unsaturated fatty acid out of which oleic acid (28.63 ± 0.02 %) is the most abundant one and a fair amount of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid are also present. The mineral profiles showed that among the macro minerals, calcium is the most abundant one (9,748.2 ± 23.96 mg kg−1), followed by potassium (2,283.7 ± 12.75 mg kg−1) and sodium (1,610 ± 22.34 mg kg−1). It was also found that P. sophore is a rich source of micro minerals Fe (115.0 ± 8.81 mg kg−1), Zn (51.1 ± 10.15 mg kg−1) and Mn (11.2 ± 2.09 mg kg−1). Vitamin profiles showed that it is rich in all the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) and out of these vitamin E (30,685.8 μg kg−1) is the most abundant one.

The giant river-catfish (Sperata seenghala) contributes significantly to the inland fisheries production in the tropical rivers and also enjoys high consumer preference. The present study was undertaken to generate information on the nutrient profile of this commercially important species as such information is not available. Proximate composition analysis showed that moisture, crude protein, crude fat and ash contents are 79.40 ± 0.09, 20.06 ± 1.13, 1.40 ± 0.79 and 0.90 ± 0.08%, respectively. Amino acid analysis showed that the fish flesh is rich in the essential amino acids like histidine, threonine and leucine and the ratio of essential to non-essential amino acid is 0.89 indicating its superior protein quality. Fatty acid profiling showed that it is low in fat. The mineral profiles showed that this species is rich in zinc, iron and calcium. The present study showed that Sperata seenghala is a good source of lean meat and trace elements, especially zinc and iron.