Abstract

  The Asian catfish or the walking catfish (Clarias magur) is one of the most commercially important indigenous food fishes of India. Recent assessment had put the species under ‘endangered’ category in the IUCN Red List, because of the critical decline in the wild population due to various known and unknown factors.With capacity to breathe atmospheric oxygen with special air breathing organ, the fish can be marketed alive to the delight of both sellers and consumers. The species has very high nutritional value not only as a food commodity with high protein content (14.87 ± 1.19%) but also known as a rich source for poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) content (25.56% of total lipid) amidst the fresh water cultivable fish species. The species is believed to have medicinal/therapeutic value, and have very high market demand, particularly in the NE Region of India for its unique taste and nutritional value. Customary preparation of Magur with specific recipe and offered to new mothers during post natal care and to persons suffering from Pox on specific day of the course of infection is believed to help in fast recovery, provide mental and physical strength to the patient to resist secondary infection and related disorders. For iron deficiency as well as other illnesses and traumatic patient also Magur is traditionally offered for fast recovery, wound healing and strength. In addition, the fish has amazing self-healing capacity through regenerating lost tissue and regeneration of important organ like testis, which may further be studied for potential use in medical science too. Appropriate steps need to be taken for propagation and conservation of this species of nutritional, therapeutic and pharmacological importance.

Keywords: Asian Catfish; High Demand; Air Breathing; Nutritional Value; Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acid; Therapeutic Value; Regenerating Capacity

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Citation

Citation: Bibha Chetia Borah. “Asian Catfish Clarias magur (Ham), a Wonder Fish for Health and Nutrition". Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 4.2 (2020): 139-143.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Bibha Chetia Borah. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.