Effect of Preparation Treatments on the Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) Protein Concentrate

Abstract

Fish protein concentrate (FPC) is a concentrated protein derived from fish meat and itscharacteristics are highly dependent on the methods of preparation used. The purpose of this study was todetermine the effect of different preparation treatments on the physico-chemical properties of niletilapia(Oreochromisniloticus) fish protein concentrate.The nile tilapia used. Was collected alive from shrimp ponds inPangkep Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The fish was then filleted, red meat trimmed and white meat waschopped in a commercial food processor and stored in a zipped plastic bags at – 20°C until used. The meat wasdivided into two groups for treatments of pressing and unpressing. The pressed and unpressed chopped meatwas then washed with 90% ethanol (1:2 or 1:4, w/v) for 20, 40 and 60 min. to remove lipid and pigments. Thetreated meat was then dried overnight in a forced-air convection oven. The dried nile tilapia FPC was thenanalysed for its physico-chemical characteristics. The results indicated that the preparation treatmentssignificantly affected the characteristics of the nile tilapia FPC. The best results from each treatment showedcharacteristics according to FAO standards (1976) namely the ratio of washing ratio 2:1 with an extraction timeof 60 minutes and the variation of the sample before extraction was pressed having a chemical composition of85.32% protein, 0.55% fat, water content of 11.91% and ash content of 1.25%. And the physical characteristicsinclude 85.9% whiteness, 2.43 g/ml water absorption and 2.37 g/ml oil absorption. The results of this studyindicated that the tilapia fish FPC is classified as type A FPC and is well applied to food ingredients.