Variations in the Levels of Total Protein, Urea and Ureate in Weaned Male Albino Rats Fed on Processed Atlantic Horse Mackerel

Trachurus trachurus (locally called kote) is a table fish sold for human consumption in Nigeria. Processing methods like poaching and smoking interfere with nutrients and are potential sources of reactive di-carbonyl compounds (RDCs) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This study determined the variations in the levels of total protein, urea and ureate in weaned male albino rats fed on processed fillet; skin, head and bones (SHB), using standard methods. Chemical analyses were carried out on processed fillet & SHB diets under standard conditions. 40 male rats (40.76 ± 2.42g) were fed with processed fillet or SHB diets for 14 days to assay for on total protein, urea and ureate. All data were subjected to analysis of variance by Duncan’s multiple range test and considered significant at a minimum of p < 0.05. Results indicated that levels of serum electrolyte, proteins and urea were insignificant (p>0.05). Study suggests that coal smoked kote SHB showed great promise as a possible protein substitute in animal feed, if gathered it could be utilized as a form of protein concentrate at little costs thus reducing costs of feeds due to highly priced casein, fish meal, soybean meal and groundnut cake (GNC) in south western Nigeria. Keywords: Processed kote; Full blood count; total protein; Urea and Ureat