IMPACT OF MALATHION (AN ORGANOPHOSPHATE) ON BIOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS (PROTEINS, CARBOHYDRATES AND FREE AMINOACIDS) OF FRESH WATER FISH Channa punctatus (Bloch)

Pesticides are most hazardous chemicals causing high risk to the environment, fisheries and people. Organophosphate pesticides are increasingly used in recent years due to their biodegradability and short resistance time in the environment. The present study was carried out to determine the impact of Malathion an organophosphate pesticide on biochemical constituents i.e. proteins, carbohydrates, and ninhydrine positive substances (Free Amino acids) of fresh water fish Channa punctatus (Bloch). The fish were exposed to the toxicant Malathion at different time intervals i.e. 24, 48, 72 and 96hr and the quantitative variations were observed on biochemical constituents in different tissues of C. punctatus i.e. gill, liver, intestine, muscle and brain. The results revealed that the total proteins, carbohydrates and free aminoacids in different tissues of fish were found to be varied at different time intervals of Malathion exposure and a significant decrease was observed in all the constituents compared to control. The maximum decrease in proteins, carbohydrates and free aminoacids was observed at 96hrs and 72hrs followed by 48hrs and 24hrs in different tissues of fish C. punctatus. Thus our present investigation reports that the period of exposure of Malathion has affected the amount of biochemical constituents in C. punctatus.