Physicochemical Characteristics, Fatty Acids Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Gabus (Channa striata) Fish Oil Cultivated in Konda, Southeast Sulawesi

Channa striata fish, commonly known as the “striped snakehead”, is a freshwater fish species widely distributed in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia. The aims of this study were to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics, fatty acids composition and antioxidant activity of Channa striata fish oil from Konda, Southeast Sulawesi affected of purification adsorbent. The Soxhlet method was used for fish oil extraction. The result was found that the purification of fish oil using bentonite and activated charcoal adsorbents resulted in a reduction of acid value, peroxide value, and refractive index, while no significant differences were observed in iodine value and saponification value across treatments. Purification of the oil using activated charcoal resulted in an increased relative percentage of saturated fatty acids, specifically heptadecanoic acid (5.76%) and arachidic acid (11.07%), accompanied by a decrease in monounsaturated fatty acids such as palmitoleic acid (23.33%) and the absence of polyunsaturated fatty acids, notably gamma-linolenic acid, which was not detected. The chelating agent activity of fish oil increased following purification with both bentonite and activated charcoal. However, an enhancement in DPPH radical scavenging activity was observed only in the samples purified with bentonite. In contrast, purification with activated charcoal led to a reduction in ABTS radical scavenging activity. The sPLS-DA technique, using FTIR spectral absorbance data as variables, effectively discriminated between crude fish oil and fish oil purified with bentonite and activated charcoal. In conclusion, oil purification enhances the physicochemical properties of snakehead (Channa striata) fish oil.