Bioactive Proteins from Freshwater Fish in Riverine and Mining Pools of Malaysia

Abdul Salam Babji , Nur Aliah Daud, Nurul Nadia Muhammad, Mohamad Aizuddin Abdul Hanan*

School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

*Maktab Rendah Sains MARA, Jalan Tanjung Batu, Bandar Tawau, 91000 Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia

Freshwater Fish in Malaysia and its Characteristics

Fish may differ in appearance, size, and eating quality. However, fish have one common characteristic which rely on habitat and it may change at different times in their life cycle. Many native fish respond to environmental cues that trigger spawning events such as rises in water level and flow velocity, changes in water temperature and salinity, day and night length. These adaptations have evolved over thousand of years with naturally changing river conditions and climate. Some fish migrate locally while others will travel a great distance between where they live and where they reproduce.

Freshwater fish are plentiful in Asia region and contain a major source of protein for its population. Malaysia is essentially a fish-consuming country. Fish plays a major role in the average diet of Malaysia, accounting for 60% of total animal protein intake. Malaysia has considerable growth potential for aquaculture. Many activities on freshwater fish culture has been encouraged by the appropriate authorities to increase the supply of fish for consumption. The government, in fact, has identified aquaculture as a priority industry and efforts are being made to actively promote investment. Ponds and old mining pools were used for aquaculture and breeding of freshwater fish. The limited marine resources and the huge increase in price of most seafood based resources have made it more justifiable to look at our backyards of rivers, mining pools and lake water sources for fresh water fish and aquatic animals.

The major freshwater food fish species being produced in Malaysia are tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), Javanese carp (Puntius gonionotus), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), big head carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and marble goby (Oxyleotrix marmoratus). Aquaculture production amounted to 526, 507 tonnes, with major species being catfish, 38.3%, Tilapia, 35%, Patin, 8.9% and Big Head Carp, 3.21%. The desired production of fish breed is achieved by using formulated pellet feed with a protein content of 32-40% containing mainly fish meal, rice bran, and maize, fed at 3 to 5% of body weight.

Depending on the species of fish breed, both monoculture and polyculture are practised. In most establishments of aquaculture, static water conditions with regular water exchange of 5-10% a day is a common management practice. To ensure optimal conditions, water quality is monitored regularly. Mining pools are irregularly shaped bodies of water, a consequence of Malaysia's huge tin-mining industry. Serving as water resource ponds to active mines, they are, however, left abandoned after the mine is exhausted. These pools have been, for decades, used for fish culture (Liong et al. 1988).

Freshwater Fish Nutritional Content and Protein Quality.

As for nutrient composition, the freshwater fish have a high protein content (15-20%) which a level comparable to that found in meat. Most of the fish have a low fat content ranging from 1-5%; lower than fat content in meat and marine fish. The fish are also good sources of calcium, phosphorus and iron, and fairly high level of vitamin B, particularly riboflavin and niacin (Tee et al. 1989; Pomponi 1999). Table 1 showed an example of nutritional content in details from freshwater fish.

Table 1 Nutritional content in freshwater fishes

Fat

Common name and species

Protein (g)

Total Lipid (g)

Total Saturated Fat (g)

Total PUFA (g)

EPA (g)

DHA (g)

Ca (mg)

Fe (mg)

Zn (mg)

Vitamin A (RAE)*

Common carp Cyprinus carpio

17.83

5.60

1.08

1.43

0.24

0.11

41

1.24

1.48

9

Tilapia Oreochromis spp.

20.80

1.70

0.77

0.48

0.01

0.11

10

0.56

0.33

0

PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic;DHA, docosahexaenoic acid.

*Retinol activity equivalent

Freshwater fish contains a high level of the essential amino acid, lysine, exceeding that found in other animal proteins such as hens egg and is also higher than that found in milk. Animal protein, including those from fish are better in quality than protein from cereals or vegetables such as rice (low in lysine), maize (low in tryptophan) and legume (low in methionine).

The amino acid composition of fish protein was comparable to other animal protein. Fish flesh, however, almost completely lacked the carbohydrate constituents characteristics of foods of plant origin. Foods from plant origin such as cereals, often have lysine as the limiting factor. Thus, fish, rich in lysine is well complement with rice and other foods in the Malaysian diet (Zanariah and Noor Rehan 1988).

Bioactive Peptides from Fish Protein

Nutritional properties of proteins are associated with their amino acid content in conjunction with the physiological utilization of specific amino acids in digestion and absorption. On the other hand, the functional properties of proteins relate to their contribution to the physicochemical and sensory properties of foods.

Bioactive peptides, also known as active protein fragments, have been defined as food derived components (genuine or generated) that, in addition to their nutritional value, exert a physiological effect in the body. Bioactive peptides have been identified in a range of foods, including plant, milk and muscle (e.g., beef, chicken, and fish muscle proteins). Bioactive peptides from food proteins can be used as functional food ingredients, or nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals to improve consumers health and prevent diseases (Joseph et al. 2011).

The peptides may be absorbed through the intestine where they subsequently enter the circulatory system intact to exert various physiological effects, or they may produce local effects in the digestive tract. Food derived bioactive peptides have been shown to display a wide range of physiological functions including antihypertensive, antioxidative, opioid agonistic, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, prebiotic, mineral binding, antithrombotic and hypocholesterolemic effects.

Bioactive peptides powder

The peptides generally contain 220 amino acid units of chain. The amino acid composition and unique sequences can affect the activity of bioactive peptides. With the increasing knowledge on functional properties of fish protein hydrolysates, there are many researchers carry out studies on the developments and applications of fish-derived functional foods, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals (Barrow and Shahidi 2008; Toldra et al. 2012).

Functional Properties Derived from Fish Proteins

Fish-derived bioactive peptides play a vital role in consumers health and nutrition. Antihypertensive peptides have attracted much attention due to the ability to prevent hypertension. It is capable of suppressing the elevation of blood pressure by inhibiting the catalytic action of a regulatory enzyme involved in the hypertension reaction (Li et al. 2004).

As for prevention or reduction of oxidation process, natural antioxidants, especially from food proteins, may have potential health benefits with little or no side effects, providing an alternative to the synthetic antioxidants (Bernardini et al., 2011). The bioactive peptides with antioxidative properties may have great potential for use as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals.

The peptides also have useful antimicrobial properties that can be used in the food industry as well as in the pharmaceutical. Antimicrobial peptides from fish will provide a new source for development of measurement novel antimicrobial drugs in the future. These antimicrobial peptides can serve as vaccines in the future to inactive specific pathogens, and they can also be used in food preservatives, and supplements. It is important to discover new antimicrobial substances because of the rise of pathogenic bacteria that are resistant to conventional antibiotics (Najafian and Babji 2014).

Commercialization of Fish Peptides

Protein

6.04%

Fat

0.80%

Carbohydrate

12.12%

Moisture

79.45%

Ash

1.59%

Water activity

0.981

Calories content

40kcal

Nutritional content of Roselle hydrolyzed collagen drink

The above product is one of the outcome that have been made on utilization of bioactive peptides incorporated in drink product to improve functional food. Since production of bioactive peptides from freshwater fish carried a potential bioacitivities in quality and health improvement, freshwater fish protein could be used as health enhancing ingredient in the formulation of functional foods in order to replace synthetic chemicals that generally used in food industry, nutraceutical and pharmaseutical need.

References

Liong, P.C., Hanafi, H.B., Merican, Z.O., Nagaraj, G. (1988). Aquaculture development in Malaysia. In: J.V. Juario & L.V. Benitez (Eds.) Perspectives in Aquaculture Development in Southeast Asia and Japan: Contributions of the SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department. Proceedings of the Seminar on Aquaculture Development in Southeast Asia, 8-12 September 1987, Iloilo City, Philippines. (pp. 73-90). Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines: SEAFDEC, Aquaculture Department.

Zanariah J. & Noor Rehan A. 1988. The consumption, proximate and amino acid composition of local freshwater fish. MARDI Research Journal, 16 (2): 109-116.

Tee, E.S., Siti Mizura, S., Kuladevan, R., Young, S.I. Khor, S.C. & Chin, S.K. 1989. Nutrient Composition Of Malaysian Freshwater Fishes. Proc Nutr Soc Mal, vol. 4: 6373

Pomponi SA 1999. The bioprocess-technological potential of the sea. Journal of Biotechnology; 70:513.

Barrow C, Shahidi F. Marine nutraceuticals and functional foods. USA: CRC Press; 2008.

Joseph Thomas Ryan, Reynolds Paul Ross, Declan Bolton, Gerald F. Fitzgerald & Catherine Stanton 2011. Bioactive Peptides from Muscle Sources: Meat and Fish. Nutrients, 3, 765-791.

Toldr, F., Aristoy, M.-C., Mora, L. & Reig, M. 2012. Innovations in value-addition of edible meat by-products. Meat science, 92(3), 2906.

Li, G.-H., Le, G.-W., Shi, Y.-H. & Shrestha, S. 2004. Angiotensin Iconverting enzyme inhibitory peptides derived from food proteins and their physiological and pharmacological effects. Nutrition Research, 24(7), 469486.

Bernardini RD, Harnedy P, Declan Bolton D, Kerry J, ONeill E, Mullen AM, et al. Antioxidant and antimicrobial peptidic hydrolysates from muscle protein sources and by-products: review. Food Chem 2011;124:1296307.

Najafian, L., & Babji, A. S. (2014). Production of bioactive peptides using enzymatic hydrolysis and identification antioxidative peptides from patin (Pangasius sutchi) sarcoplasmic protein hydolysate. Journal of Functional Foods, 9, 280-289.

Bioactive Proteins from Freshwater Fish in Riverine and Mining

Pools of Malaysia

Abdul Salam Babji , Nur Aliah Daud

,

Nurul Nadia Muhammad

,

Mohamad Aizuddin Abdul Hanan*

School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of

Science and Technology

,

Universit

i

Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600,

Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

*

Maktab Rendah Sains MARA, Jalan Tanjung Batu, Bandar Tawau,

91000 Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia

Freshwater

Fish

in Malaysia

and its Characteristics

Fish

may

differ in appearance, size,

and

eating

quality. However,

fish have one common characteristic which rely on habitat and it

may change at different times in their life cycle. Many native fish

respond to environmental cues that trigger spawning events such as

rises in water level and flow velo

city, changes in water temperature

and salinity, day and night length. These adaptations have evolved

over thousand of years with naturally changing river conditions and

climate. Some fish migrate locally while others will travel a great

distance between w

here they live and where they reproduce.

Freshwater fish are plentiful in Asia region and contain a major

source of protein for its population.

Malaysia is essentially a fish

-

consuming country. Fish plays a major role in the average diet of

Malaysia, acco

unting for 60% of total animal protein intake.

Malaysia has considerable growth potential for aquaculture.

Many

activities on freshwater fish culture has been encouraged by the

Bioactive Proteins from Freshwater Fish in Riverine and Mining

Pools of Malaysia

Abdul Salam Babji , Nur Aliah Daud, Nurul Nadia Muhammad,

Mohamad Aizuddin Abdul Hanan*

School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of

Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600,

Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

*Maktab Rendah Sains MARA, Jalan Tanjung Batu, Bandar Tawau,

91000 Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia

Freshwater Fish in Malaysia and its Characteristics

Fish may differ in appearance, size, and eating quality. However,

fish have one common characteristic which rely on habitat and it

may change at different times in their life cycle. Many native fish

respond to environmental cues that trigger spawning events such as

rises in water level and flow velocity, changes in water temperature

and salinity, day and night length. These adaptations have evolved

over thousand of years with naturally changing river conditions and

climate. Some fish migrate locally while others will travel a great

distance between where they live and where they reproduce.

Freshwater fish are plentiful in Asia region and contain a major

source of protein for its population. Malaysia is essentially a fish-

consuming country. Fish plays a major role in the average diet of

Malaysia, accounting for 60% of total animal protein intake.

Malaysia has considerable growth potential for aquaculture. Many

activities on freshwater fish culture has been encouraged by the