Nutritional and microbiological characteristics of snakehead fish flour (Channa striata) and its modification as weight enhancing supplements for children with tuberculosis

Abstract

The variation in the use of snakehead fish flour as food supplement continues to increase. This study aims to provide solutions to improve the nutritional intake of children with TB by analyzing the nutrient content in snakeheaded fish flour (Channa striata) as weight enhancing in Indonesia. Snakehead fish (Channa Striata) processing is divided into three types of supplements: original snakehead fish supplement (without any additional food), snakehead supplement which is varied with tofu dregs, and fish supplement which varied with turmeric extract. The results showed that snakehead fish has a yield of about 2.38-2.97%, and an edible portion of snakehead fish ranged from 50.35-55.12%. Snakeheaded fish contains 0.7% albumin extracted using a Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) solvent at a concentration of 0.25 M. Among the three types of flour, the nutritional content of the original cork fish meal showed the best results. The nutritional composition produced in snake-headed fish flour is 11.05% water content, 5.13% ash content, 79.62% protein, 4.93% fat content, and energy of 363 kcal. The protein content of snakehead fish flour is included in the Quality or Grade I (good) category based on the quality standard of fish flour (Indonesian National Standard 01-2715-1996). The results of the microbiological analysis showed that the snakeheaded fish flour product was free from contamination by pathogenic bacteria include Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and coliform bacteria. The high protein and energy content found in cork fish meals can be used as a basis to develop into a weight-enhancing supplement for children with tuberculosis.