Proximate composition, fatty acid characteristics, amino acid profile and mineral content of fish .

The study's objective was to explore the chemical composition of fish flesh and their nutritional quality. Fish samples were caught in the Red Sea, prepared, and analysed for proximate composition, fatty acid, amino acid and mineral content. The results revealed that fish flesh contained 71.1 % moisture, 20.7 % crude protein, 5 % crude lipids and 1.7 % ash. The fatty acids were dominant by 61.93 % saturated fatty acids. Palmitic was the most common (40.35 %) saturated fatty acids, while monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids accounted for 22.59 % and 15.48 %, respectively. The fish fat consisted of appreciable amounts of odd-numbered fatty acids heptadecanoic and heptadecenoic acids standing for 1.62 % and 1.45 %, respectively. The fatty acids were predominated by C16, C18 and C20 fatty acids. The percentage of n-6/n-3 reached 2.26. Seventeen amino acids were identified in flesh protein, eight of which were essential amino acids (EAAs); they amounted to 375.47 mg/g crude protein. Lysine was the most common EAA (64.49 mg/g crude protein). Aromatic amino acid and sulphur amino acid constituted 112.43 and 47.56 mg/g protein, respectively. The following macroelement concentration ranking was identified: Ca > P > K > Na > Mg, while the concentration of vital elements was Fe > Zn > Cu > Cr > I > Se > Co.