Biochemical and Lipid Oxidation Changes in Clariasgariepinus (Burchell 1822) Stored in Fish Ice Box

Post- harvest losses of fish in Nigeria are related to poor fish handling, lack of preservation, quality deterioration and spoilage. Clariasgariepinus and ice block were weighed in four different ratios of fish to ice (1:1; 2: 1; 3:1 and 4:1) referred to as treatments into fish ice box. Sampling was carried out at six hours interval for biochemical and lipid oxidation tests (pH, Total Volatile Base Nitrogen (TVB-N), Peroxide value (PV), Thiobarbituric acid Reactive Substance (TBA-RS).pH value increased from 7.10-7.60, TVB-N increased from 5.29 mg/g N -13.28mg/g N, PV increased from 1.77 meq/kg-7.80 meq/kg and TBA-RS increased from 0.17 MDA mg per kg -4.48 MDA mg per kg. The results shows some level of significant (p<0.05) in some treatments however, in all the treatments the biochemical and lipid oxidation results were within the safe limit indicating that they are probably good parameters to predict shelf life. It was established that C. gariepinus cannot be kept beyond 18 hours at ambient and treatment 1:1 kept up to 30 hours at a temperature of 8.1oC and a relative humidity of 96.4% without further addition of ice. The use of ice box is recommended for transportation and handling of C. gariepinus. This would reduce the incidence of loss associated with post-harvest handling of fish thereby increasing its availability, creation of more wealth for fish handlings and enhance food security status in Nigeria.