Effect of Drying Methods and Pre Treatments on Nutritional Value and Sensory Quality of Fish (Oreochromis niloticus, Pylodictis olivaris and Cyprinus carpio) Species Commonly Used in Gambella Region

This study was conducted to assess the effect of drying methods and pre-treatments on nutritional content and sensory quality of dried fish. The experiment was conducted in factorial arrangement of 2×3×2 with two drying methods (sun and oven drying), three fish species (tilapia, cat fish and carp) and two preservatives treatment (garlic and ginger juice) laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Fresh fillets were analysed for their nutritional value and sensory quality. The compositions of the fresh fillets were 6.50-7.59% for ash, 74.20-76.67% for protein, 8.06-9.09% for fat and 8.47-9.12% for total carbohydrates. Drying reduced the moisture contents from 74.74-75.81% to between 7.76-8.25%, making it safe for storage. The ash content changed from 7.11 to 7.34 and from 6.50% to 6.34% for cat fish and tilapia, respectively, with statistical significance whereas no change was observed in carp with 7.60% because of drying. Drying method had no difference in ash and protein contents while increase in fat from 7.75 to 9.44% and a decrease in carbohydrate from 9.37 to 8.13% were observed in sun dried samples than that of oven dried fillets. This study showed that nutritional values of dry fish did not statistically changed during storage period of 3 months.