Proximate Assessment of Shrimp (Macrobrachium felicinum) Sourced from Crude Oil Polluted Sites in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the nutrient value and the level of hydrocarbon contamination in shrimps sourced from crude oil contaminated sited such as Bodo, Borokiri, Bomu in Rivers state and Oron in Akwa Ibom as control. A total of eight samples of shrimps and water were sourced from four different locations and analyzed to determine the level of hydrocarbon contamination in shrimps sourced from crude oil polluted environment and proximate composition (ash, moisture, crude fiber, protein, carbohydrate and fat and oil) using standard procedures. The results obtained from the hydrocarbon analysis of the water samples indicated that TPH of the water samples ranged from 4.6616 mg/l to 28.3599 mg/l and PAH ranged from 4.00 to 208.86 mg/l. The result of the shrimps’ samples shows that TPH and PAH contained in the shrimps’ samples ranged from 4.0862 ppm to 18.7339 ppm, and 2.38 ppm to 236.05 ppm respectively. In the proximate composition, ash content ranged from 3.21% to 4.93%, moisture content ranged from 70.42% to 71.40%, fat and oil content ranged from 0.79% to 1.89%, Crude fiber ranged from 0.15 to 1.27%, protein content ranged from 13.87% to 20.87%, and carbohydrate ranged from 1.36% to 8.57%. The proximate composition of the samples from the four different locations show variation in the composition of shrimps in relation to the different locations. The proximate composition indicated that pollutions have reduced the nutrient levels and altered the mineral composition of the shrimps when compared with samples from unpolluted water body. There were significant differences between data obtained from the different study areas.