Chemical characterization of fish species employed to Asthma treatment southern region of Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

Intenting to add scientic knowledge to popular culture and about fish species available in South Coast of Rio Grande do Sul, the objective of this paper was chemical characterization of two fishes species, Balistes capriscus (peixe-porco) and Meticirrhus littoralis (papa-terra) that the local population believes in its pharmacologic properties to asthma treatment. The fishes were collected in industries and in the public market of the city. The edible part(muscle) were separated from the skin, so characterized. The chemical composition was determined by methods AOAC International (2000), except the lipids that were quantified by method Bligh and Dyer (1959). The phospholipids were determined in the lipids fraction by spectrophotometry in according to German standard methodology described by Esteves, Gonçalves e Barrera-Arellano (1995) adapted to fish lipids. The muscle and skin of the peixe porco and papa-terra presented, respectively, average of 78,5 and 71,5; 80 and 75.5% of humidity; 1,4 and 11; 1,2 and 0.8% of ash; 18,8 and 16,7; 17,6 and 18.5% of protein; 0,77 and 0,5; 0,82 and 7% of lipids. The phospholipids values obtained were 17,2 mg. g-1 of LT (total lipids) and 11,3 mg.g-1 of TL for muscle and skin of the peixe porco and 5,8 mg. g-1 TL and 2,04 mg. g-1 of TL for muscle and skin of the papa-terra. The relations of hospholipids/total lipids in the muscle and skin from the two species were like the others marine species cited by the literature . However in the skin of peixe-porco the level of phospolipids is upper five that in skin of papa-terra.