Chapotoka, O.

Kamanga, L.

Kaunda, E.

Khaila, S.

Maliro, D.

Mphepo, M.

Mwangwela, A.

English

Aquatic Commons

JV ?)I
Chambo: Is it taste or something else? Preference and acceptability of roasted, fried
and boiled Oreochromis spp, (Chambo), Rhainphochroinis spp (Ncheni) and Bagrus ine
ridionalis (Kampango) from Lake Malawi
1E. Kaunda, 2D, Maliro, 3M. Mphepo, 4S. Khaila 5L. Kanmnga, 6A. Mwangwela &
'0. Chapotoka
Aquaculture and Fisheries Science Department, Bunda College Box 219, Lilongwc
2 Rural Development Department, Bunda College, Box 219 Lilongwe
World Vision international, Box 2050, Blantyre
Centre for Research and Development, Bunda College, Box 219 Lilongwe, Malawi
Animal Science Department, Bunda College, Box 219 Lilongwe
Introduction
The bulk of fish in Malawi is supplied from Lakes
Malawi and Malombe. Lake Malawi alone harbours
more than 600 species most of which are endemic to
the lake and are supplied through capture fisheries.
Oreochroinis spp (Chambo), Rhainpochromis spp
(Ncheni) and Bagrus meridionalis (Kampango) are
among the dominant species that are captured. Re-
cently however, Chambo catches have dwindled and
the Chambo fishery in Lake Malombe is 'uid to have
collapsed. High price of Chambo is said o encourage
more entrants into the fishery (Turner , 1996). How-
ever, reasons for such demand are not known. This
study was therefore conducted to d:terrnine if the ap-
pearance, aroma, tenderness, juiciness and taste of
Chambo are exceptionally good enough to account for
the high demand and therefore high market price.
Materials and Methods
The study was conducted at Bunda College of Agri-
culture, University of Malawi in the Home Economics
and Human Nutrition cafeteria in November, 2002.
Fillets of Oreochroinis spp (Chambo) and Bagrus
merioclinalis (Kampango) and whole Rhamphoch romis
spp (Ncheni) were purchased from MALDECO Fisher-
ies Ltd. Rhainphochrornis spp was fihleted at the cafe-
teria. The fillets were prepared using three cooking
methods; roasting, frying and boiling. Samples that
were boiled were first smoked. Structured question-
6
naires were administered to an untrained sensory
panel composed of 73 members. The panellists com-
prised of students and members of staff from Bunda
College from 22 Districts of Malawi. Two students
were from Zambia (Table 1). Names of fish samples
were not disclosed to the panellists. Fish samples
were evaluated against appearance, aroma/smell,
taste, juiciness, tenderness and acceptability ranked
on hedonic scale.
Results
Preferred meals
Twenty five percent (25%) of the respondents pre-
ferred nsima with fish while another 25 % favoured
nsima with chicken (Table 2). Fish was said to be
preferred because it is readily available, a delicacy
and prepared in different ways. The other reason for
its preference is that fish can also be preserved lo-
cally for a longer period of time.
Frequency of eating fish
Most respondents (69%) had eaten fish since their
youth (Table 3). Most respondents (22 %) ate fish
twice per week while others ate once a week (17.8%)
and three times a week (16.4%) (Table 4).
Most respondents (58 %) bought fish from local
markets while others got fish from MALDECO Fish-
eries Ltd.(27 %) and supermarkets (15 %) (Table 5).
Aquw-Fisli Teche Rep. Issue No: 2, Nov 2003
The preferred species
The majority of the respondents (68%) indicated
that at a market they look for Chambo (Table 6), be-
cause it is delicious and popular compared to the
other species. Usipa, Ncheni, Utaka and Kampango,
are less preferred in that order (16.9, 7.6, 6.1 and 1.5
%, respectively). Respondents indicated that they also
go for other species because they are affordable as
opposed to Chambo, which is expensive and is bc-
coming scarce.
7
Cooking methods
The majority of the respondeni (92%) preferred
frying while others liked boiling (63%) and roast-
ing or grilling (48%) (Table 7). Respondents felt
that frying added flavour and made fish look more
appetising. Those that preferred boiling indicated
that the method rendered the fish to be so:ft and left
some gravy that could be enjoyed together with the
fish. Boiling and roasting were said to result in re-
tention of the natural flavour to fish.
Table 1: Districts of origin for respondents
District Number of re- Percentage (%)
spondents
Table 2: Meals that were preferred by panellists
Type of meal Number of re- Percent
spoudents
2
1
Kondowole
with beans
2
Nsima with
beef
9
Nsima with
chicken
Lilongwe
Mulanje
Mzimba
7
3
9
10
4
12
Chips with beef
Chips with
chicken
3
5
4
7
Dowa 5 Chips with fish 3 4
Chiradzulu
Likoma
2
2
3
3
. . .
Chips with fried
eggs
2 3
Chipata, Zambia 3 3
Mchinji
I) cdia
1
Balaka 1 1
Nkhatabay 1 1
Nsanje 5 7
Mcbinji 1 1
Blantyre
Mangochi
2
1
3
1
.
Nsima with tor-
nips
Kasungu
Thyolo
Zomba
2
3
6
3
4
8
Pasta with
minced meat
.
Pasta with
smoked fish
1
1
Rumphi
..Clutipa
Ntcheu
5
4
5
7
5
7
Rice with
chicken
.
Rice with fried
eggs
9
1
13
1
Karonga 4 5 Rice with pork 2 3
Nchelenge,
Lamb ia
1 1
Total 69 100
Nsima with fish
Nsima with
therere
17
17
2
2
-25
25
3
1
Aqua-Fish Tech. Rep Issue No: 2, Nov 2003
Period No. of
respondents
Percentage
Since youth 49 69
For over twenty- 4 5.6
four years
For over fifteen 9 12.7
years
For quite some time 9 12.7
Total 71 100
Table 4: Numbers and percentages of panelists indi-
cating frequency of eating fish
Frequency No, of Percentage
respondents
Onceaweek 13 17.8
.Twice a week 16 22
Three times a week 12 16.4
Four times a week 4 5.5
Everyday 4 5.5
Once a month 1 1.4
At least once a 4 5.5
month
As often as fish be- 7 9.6
come available
Frequently 7 9.6
Rarely 5 6.8
73
Table 5. Numbers and percentages of panellists indi-
cating where they buy fish
Market No. of
respondents
Percentage
MALDECO fisheries 19 27
Local markets 41 58
PTC and other super-
markets
TOTAL
11
71
15
100
Species No. of respon Percentage
dents
Chambo 44 67.8
Usipa 11 16.9
Ncheni 5 7.6
Utaka 4 6.1
Kampango 1 1.5
Total 65 100
Table 7. Fish cooking methods preferred by re-
spondents
Cooking method No. of Percentage
respondents
Frying 67 92
Boiling 46 63
Roasting 35 48
Steaming 1 1.4
Processing of fish
While sun-drying and smoking were mentioned
as possible processing methods, the majority (97%)
of the panellists preferred fresh fish (Table 8).
Preference and acceptability of Chambo, Ncheni
and Kampango
There were differences in preference and accept-
ability of the three species based on appearance,
taste, aroma and juiciness (Table 9).
The majority of respondents preferred the appear-
ance (93%) and aroma (77%) of fried Ncheni.
Smoked Kampango ranked high in terms of tender-
ness (77%). In terms of juiciness both smoked
Chambo and roasted Ncheni were ranked first
(68%). The majority (65%) commented that fried
Ncheni was the most tasty seconded by Chambo
(62%) (Table 9).
Processing Chambo
No. 1%
Usipa
o % NchentNo.
i
1%
Utaka
No, 1%
ampa
fr'o.
ngo
1%
frotaifr'o %
Sundried 1 1.4 9 12 1 1.4 4 5.4 1 1.4 16 22
Smoked 5 6.8 3 4.1 5 6.8 6 8.2 3 4 22 30
Fresh 59 80 13 17.8 7 9.5 1 1.4 1 1.4 71 97
8
-me .i. rime when respondents started eating fish Table 6. The fish species preterred by respondents
Table 8. Numbers and percentages of panellists indicating preferred processing methods of different fish spe-
cies
Table 9. Panellists' preference based on appearance, aroma, tenderness, juiciness and taste of the fish samples
Sample Appearance Aroma Tenderness Juiciness Taste
% % % % %
Fried chambo 75 54 48 55 52
Roasted chambo 67 50 44 60 62
*Smokedchambo 33 33 45 68 30
Fried ncheni 93 77 60 68 65
Roasted ncheni 55 54 66 62 56
*Smokedncheni 25 15 45 55 18
Fried kampango 74 48 36 43 48
Roasted kampango 62 65 47 59 58
*Smokedkampango 43 38 78 44 53
Discussion
Fish seem to play an important role in the Mala-
wian diet as is favoured as much as chicken. Unlike
chicken, however, fish can be prepared or processed
in various ways thereby adding diversity to diets of
families.
The study showed that cooking and processing
methods have an influence on preference and accep-
tance of fish species. While Chambo is popular
among consumers and was ranked first at the market,
the species was not the best in appearance, tender-
ness, juiciness and taste when prepared for consump-
tion. Overall, Ncheni was ranked first. The results
suggest that the consumer's decision to purchase a
particular species at the market is not based on taste
but other factors. For example, Ncheni, which was
first choice for most panellists during organoleptic
taste was only third during the questions. Indeed as
suggested by Garber et a!. (2003), favorable sensory
and taste ratings do not directly translate to purchase,
9
consumption, or market success of a product. Re-
sults suggest that with proper market strategies,
other species can replace Chambo as "the species"
for Malawi, thereby reducing its demand and fish-
ing pressure.
Acknowledgements
Funds to undertake this research were provided
by IFPRI. The authors are indebted to all that par-
ticipated in the sensory evaluation.
References
Garber, L.L., Hyatt, E.M. and Starr, R.G., 2003.
Measuring consumer response to food products.
Food Quality and Preference 14 (2003) 3-15.
2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.
Turner, G.F., 1996. Offshore cichlids of Lake Ma-
lawi. Cichlid Press. Ahornweg 3, D-31864.
Lawenau 240p.



Chambo: is it taste or something else?: preference and acceptability of roasted, fried and boiled Oreochromis spp, (Chambo), Rhamphochromis spp (Ncheni) and Bagrus meridionalis (Kampango)from Lake Malawi

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Chambo: is it taste or something else?: preference and acceptability of roasted, fried and boiled Oreochromis spp, (Chambo), Rhamphochromis spp (Ncheni) and Bagrus meridionalis (Kampango)from Lake Malawi

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