NUTRITION AND FLAVOR ANALYSIS OF NILE TILAPIA AND CHERRY TOMATOES GROWN IN DIFFERENT AQUAPONICS TREATMENTS

Abstract

Aquaponics is not a widely used technique for food production, despite the high yields of produce grown from these farms. Many studies focus on how to maximize crop and fish yield, but quality should also be considered when marketing these products to consumers. The purpose of this research is to analyze the chemical makeup of the tilapia and cherry tomatoes grown in different aquaponics configurations and determine if aquaponics configuration influences nutrition and flavor profiles of these products. The long-term goal is to improve our understanding of tomatoes and tilapia grown in aquaponics and to find the ideal system treatment for their production. The tomatoes and tilapia were grown in 4 different aquaponics treatments (3 of each treatment) for a total of 12 systems. Tilapia were harvested at the end of each experimental year (i.e. 2023 and 2024), and minced tilapia fillet samples were analyzed for VOC composition, fatty acid profile, and geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol concentration. The chemical composition of the tomatoes was analyzed using filtered tomato juice obtained from each system to evaluate quality. Brix°, titratable acidity (TA), pH, sugar-acid ratio, citric acid, glucose, and fructose were measured in tomatoes at four time points during the Spring and Fall trials of the 2024 experiment. Dried tomato samples were sent to the University of Georgia for mineral analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) was done to evaluate VOC composition, and we found differences between tilapia samples from each treatment. There were no differences in fatty acid profile and geosmin/MIB concentrations in the fish from the tested treatments. Tomatoes also showed no differences in the previously mentioned quality parameters. However, prior research on this experiment showed that the light-coupled treatment had a significantly higher tilapia and tomato yield (p<0.05).