It is a known practice that fishermen go out fishing Nile Perch which is endowed with lots of fat and sell them off to factories which are only interested in the fillet thereby dumping the fat as waste.

However scientists specialised in fisheries science think it is not correct because Nile Perch fat has lots of health benefits to humans.

It is their contention that consuming fish alone is an important source of omega-3 fatty acids. These essential nutrients keep our heart and brain healthy.

Fish oil contains the two fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These are believed to benefit the cardiovascular system.

Omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial to improving vision and eye health. This is because the brain and eyes are heavily concentrated in omega-3 fatty acids and need them to maintain their health and function and fish is one of the best sources of these good fats.

As such scientists at the Aquaculture Research and Development Centre Kajjansi have come up with a technology of processing Nile Perch fish fat into medicinal oil as well as in capsule form with the bid of minimising the fat wastage as well as to tap its medicinal benefits.

Processing fish fat into oil

Dr Victoria Namulawa Tibenda the head of the Institute and programme leader Aquaculture and fish Biosciences programme explaining about the process of the technology notes that most Nile Perch being exported by fish companies is its fillet therefore what happens with other parts such as bones, fat, skin and scale among others.

According to her all the parts of Tilapia have nutritional value including the bones which his team is exploring prospects of adding value to and other parts as whole.

As of now her team is processing the fish oil which will be processed into capsule for people to make it easy to swallow because the oil contains the smell which may irritate people consuming it.

To her it is important for Ugandans to consume omega acid in fish oil rather than from medicine sold in Pharmacies.

It is a requirement that everyone consumes 23kg of fish per person per year but the scientists say Ugandans consume less than 10kg.

At the moment what is available is the processed oil which has been packaged in 100ml costing Shs10, 000. The team has already the equipment for processing the capsules and production will begin soon.

The process

Research Assistant Fred Wanda explaining how the fish oil is processed notes that the team obtains the fish fat from Factories which is removed under clean environment considered to be from grade A fish.

It is transported in refrigerated container and the team checks on its temperature, contamination level, smell to ensure it has fresh fat.

The fat material is then prepared for steam extraction where it is heated for filtration of pure oil.

Then there is enzyme treatments, stabilisation, double filtration including mixture of flavour ingredients added to the oil to try as much to contain the strong smell.

Once this is through then the processing of alquots in bottles is done and the same filtration is used for processing the capsules

When capsulating using the machine, the capsules will end up being hot but it is later cooled in a cooling equipment ready for packaging into bottles.

Wanda contends that his team is waiting for two components of the fish oil capsulation equipment and the processing work will start in June this year.

For now a number of people come to the Institute to purchase the bottled oil mainly the elderly having bone related complications which a number of them have attested that it works for them.

Health and farmer benefits

Apart from having good vision, there are other benefits such as fighting against diseases such as Arthritis, making the skin to glow, improving born structures, provision of pure nutrition which helps children with sickle cells and child hypertension.

Among people who abuse alcohol, fish oil may offer protection may offer from dementia.

It has been scientifically proven that brain cells that are exposed to a mix of fish oil and alcohol have 95 percent less neuroinflammation and neuronal death compared with brain cells that are only exposed to alcohol.

Oily fish consumption may protect against early and late stage oral and skin cancer scientists have discovered that Omega-3 fatty acid selectively inhibit the growth of menacing and pre-malignant cells at doses that do not affect the normal cells.

Consuming oily fish during the last months of pregnancy can have can have positive effects on a child’s sensory, cognitive, and motor development.

According to a review published in the https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15110203" target="_blank">American Journal of Cardiology, fish consumption is associated with a lower risk of fatal and total coronary heart disease. Fish is high in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids which can http://eatthis.com/anti-inflammatory-foods" target="_blank">reduce inflammation, help protect your heart, and stave off chronic disease

Other benefits are creating jobs for fish farmers since Nile Perch will be on a higher demand since there is readily need for its fat which has been wasted. Some farmers will be sensitized to process clean fat for readily available market.