Aquaculture America 2020

February 9 - 12, 2020

Honolulu, Hawaii

IS FISH QUALITY HEALTHIER IN AQUAPONICS?

Pattadar, S.N*., Maxwell, J., Smith, M., Bergefurd, B., Krisnakumar, N.,
Slater, B., and K.R. Islam
 
The Ohio State University, College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Columbus, OH-43210, USA
E-mail: pattadar.1@buckeyemail.osu.edu
 

Aquaponics is an emerging holistic technology that integrates recirculating fish farming system with high value vegetables production. There is an information gap on the quality of fish produced in US aquaponics as compared with the imported fish quality produced in the aquaponics and conventional aquaculture systems. Our study was conducted with Tilapia as a test fish to determine and compare the fish quality in terms of nutrient density, proximate composition, protein and amino acids, fatty acids, and heavy metal contents. Tilapia produced in our aquaponics experiment and commercially available fish products from different sources collected from ethnic stores and supermarkets were processed and analyzed for macro (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur), micro-nutrients (iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron, molybdenum, and silicon), and heavy metal (aluminum, lead, nickel, and chromium); amino acid profile (Hyp, Asp, Thr, Ser, Glu, Pro, Gly, Ala, Cys, Val, Met, Ile, Leu, Tyr, Phe, Hyl, His, Lys, Trp, and Arg); and fatty acid profile (saturated, mono- and polyunsaturated). Results showed that aquaponic fish products were nutritionally enriched and balanced, fortified with essential amino acids, and high in mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids than that of the imported and commercially available fish products in the market. The macronutrient density Ca / (K+Na+Mg) was higher in the Tilapia produced in aquaponics as compared to the imported and other sources. The P:Ca and N:P, N:S, and P:S were more balanced. The heavy metals contents were significantly lower in the aquaponic fish products. Based on our results, it is concluded that aquaponic fish product quality is much better for public health when compared with the commercially available imported fish products produced under highly intensive aquaculture systems.