Marine lizardfish (Harpadon nehereus) meal concentrate in preparation of ready-to-eat protein and calcium rich extruded snacks.

Bombay duck (Harpadon nehereus) a high protein fish, is one of the significant estuarine fish of the West Coast of India. Apart from being rich in protein the fish is also a store house of important minerals. This study was conducted to determine the physicochemical properties of the fish meal and utilize it to produce protein rich extruded snacks by twin screw extrusion technology at optimized parameters of 110 °C temperature, 16% moisture and 350 RPM screw speed. Protein of the fish meal concentrate was found to be around 54 g/100 g, mineral content particularly calcium around 2100.32 mg/100 g, phosphorous 240 mg/100 g and substantial amount of potassium, sodium, iron and zinc. Amino acid profile revealed presence of some essential amino acids. 1-D gel electrophoresis showed presence of low and medium kDa proteins ranging between 10 and 50 kDa. Functional and physicochemical property studies of extrudates revealed that 15% fish meal incorporation gave highest expansion ratio of 3.46. Addition of Bombay duck fish meal to extruded snack preparations had resulted in good taste and texture. The protein contents of the products ranged from 9.35 to 21.00 g/100 g. The results indicated that fish meal can be useful for preparing low cost protein rich food. © Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2019.