ASIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY ASIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY https://doi.org/10.14233/ajchem.2017.20790 INTRODUCTION Fish is one of the most potential sources of nutrient containing proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals required for healthy human body maintenance [1]. All over the world, consumption of fish is increasing among the health- conscious populace. Fish is considered as one of the most important sources of high quality animal protein in the diet consisting of essential amino acids for growth and maintenance of human body, and has a crucial role in food security and mitigation of poverty in both rural and urban areas [2]. In comparison to other protein sources like goat and chicken meat, fish is safer, healthier and is also known to be an excellent source of easily digestible animal protein [3]. Fats are important sources of energy, fat-soluble vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids [4]. Recently, there is increasing interest of fish consumption worldwide because of their high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially the ω-3 fatty acids viz. eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6) [5]. These two fatty acids are known as essential fatty acids because they must be obtained from the diet as human Determination of Nutritional Composition of Some Selected Fishes from Hel River of North-East India ARJINA PARBIN SARKAR 1 , SANJAY BASUMATARY 2,* and SANDEEP DAS 1 1 Department of Biotechnology, Bodoland University, Kokrajhar-783 370, India 2 Department of Chemistry, Bodoland University, Kokrajhar-783 370, India *Corresponding author: E-mail: waytosanjay12@gmail.com Received: 19 May 2017; Accepted: 28 July 2017; Published online: 29 September 2017; AJC-18579 In this study, proximate composition and mineral contents of ten fish species viz. Barilius bendelisis, Chagunius chagunio, Garra gotyla, Labeo pangusia, Neolissochilus hexagonolepis, Raiamas bola, Tor putitora, Cyprinion semiplotum, Barilius barna and Psilorhynchus nudithoracicus from Hel river of North-East India were investigated and all the results were presented per 100 g of dry weight basis. The moisture content was found in the range of 5.44 ± 2.20 g to 8.87 ± 1.46 g. Ash content varied from 1.28 ± 0.017 g in B. barna to 3.20 ± 0.012 g in N. hexagonolepis. The crude protein content was found highest in G. gotyla (29.33 ± 0.249 g) and the lowest in R. bola (21.91 ± 0.012 g), and crude fat was found to be lowest in B. barna (13.51 ± 0.010 g) and highest being in C. semiplotum (29.85 ± 0.010 g). Total carbohydrate was found in the range of 38.55 ± 0.21 g to 53.92 ± 0.57 g, and the lowest nutritive value was obtained in C. chagunio (426.95 ± 4.53 kcal/100 g) and the highest nutritive value being in C. semiplotum (521.38 ± 9.23 kcal/100 g). The highest level of iron was detected in C. chagunio (21.89 ± 0.029 mg) and lowest in B. barna (5.56 ± 0.071 mg). The highest amount of copper was observed in N. hexagonolepis (2.91 ± 0.029 mg) and the lowest in R. bola (0.523 ± 0.034 mg). The magnesium, calcium and zinc levels varied from 0.14 ± 0.006 to 0.31 ± 0.017 mg, 0.30 ± 0.012 to 0.64 ± 0.020 mg and 1.06 ± 0.044 to 4.51 ± 0.029 mg, respectively. It can be concluded that the fish species selected for this study could be good sources of proteins, fats, minerals and high nutritive value for human consumption. Keywords: Proximate composition, Minerals, Fish, Hel river. Asian Journal of Chemistry; Vol. 29, No. 11 (2017), 2493-2496 body cannot synthesize them. Furthermore, fish consumption has been associated with several health benefits as the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids have gained increasing attention because of prevention of coronary artery disease, improvement of retina and brain development, reduced incidence of breast cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple scelerosis, asthma, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and regulation of prostaglandin synthesis [6,7]. Minerals are essential nutrients and components of many enzymes and metabolism which contribute to the growth of fish [8]. Fish mineral and metal contents vary based on the surrounding environmental conditions and fish species. All living organisms require minerals at moderate levels for many biochemical activities and their deficiency induces a lot of malfunctioning causing reduced productivity and several diseases [9]. When the metabolic demand or requirement levels of minerals exceed, they tend to become accumulated in tissues of organisms which can only metabolize these substances to lesser extents because most of the heavy metals are non- biodegradable [3]. The study of nutritional composition of fish species is important biologically as many of these components