Nutritional Profiling of Dried Puntius sophore (Hamilton, 1822), a Principal Raw Material for the Traditional Fermented Fish Product Ngari in Manipur, India

Abstract

The small indigenous fish species Puntius sophore is an important raw material used in the preparation of Ngari, a traditional fermented fish product of Manipur, India. Fresh adult P. sophore were collected from Loktak Lake, Manipur, during August to September 2025 and processed into dried fish for nutritional evaluation. The fish were cleaned, washed, sun-dried, pulverised and stored before laboratory analysis. This study analysed the proximate composition, fatty acid profile and amino acid composition of dried P. sophore to generate baseline information relevant to its use in traditional fermentation. Analyses were performed in triplicate, and the results were expressed as mean±standard deviation. The dried sample had a low moisture content of 3.34±0.12%, indicating effective dehydration. Crude protein and crude fat contents were 40.03±0.24% and 30.15±0.008%, respectively, while ash and carbohydrate contents were 14.42±0.02% and 12.06±0.024%, respectively. Fatty acid analysis showed saturated fatty acids at 13.25±0.04%, monounsaturated fatty acids at 12.66±0.03% and polyunsaturated fatty acids at 4.24±0.016%, with no trans fat detected. Amino acid profiling confirmed the presence of both essential and non-essential amino acids. Glycine (3.14±0.01%), glutamic acid (3.06±0.01%), proline (2.39±0.008%), leucine (2.72±0.03%) and phenylalanine (1.88±0.01%) were the major constituents recorded, whereas histidine and lysine were not detected in the sample. Overall, the findings indicate that dried P. sophore is a protein- and lipid-rich fish material with appreciable ash content and a diverse amino acid profile. The study provides preliminary nutritional data that may support quality assessment of dried fish used for Ngari production and related traditional fermentation systems in Manipur.