fa عمومى General پژوهشي Research <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:120%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="TR" style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">The nutritional composition and thermal degradation behavior of freshwater fish muscle are important characteristics for understanding changes in fish tissues during thermal processing. Although the proximate composition of freshwater fish has been extensively studied, comparative information on the thermal stability and degradation behavior of muscle components remains limited. This study characterized the proximate composition and thermal properties of 30 fish representing 10 freshwater species (three biological replicates per species) collected from Chashma Lake and the Indus River, Pakistan. Dorsal muscle samples were separated, oven-dried at 60 &deg;C for 48 h, finely ground, and analyzed for proximate composition and thermal properties using simultaneous thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (TGA/DSC). Significant interspecific differences were observed for all measured parameters (p < 0.001). Moisture, crude protein, crude lipid, and ash contents ranged from 71.80&ndash;77.30%, 16.10&ndash;20.50%, 2.80&ndash;6.80%, and 1.22&ndash;3.10%, respectively. <em>Chitala chitala</em> and <em>Hypophthalmichthys nobilis</em> had comparatively higher protein and lipid contents. The principal stage of thermal degradation occurred between 180 and 400 &deg;C, with species-specific differences in degradation patterns. <em>Cirrhinus mrigala</em> exhibited a comparatively slower mass decline and retained a greater proportion of residual char during this stage. The highest enthalpy value was recorded for <em>H. nobilis</em> (16,824 J/g), indicating greater energy absorption during thermal degradation under the experimental conditions. <em>Cirrhinus reba</em> (26.54%) and <em>Oreochromis mossambicus</em> (26.21%) showed the highest residual mass, which was associated with their comparatively higher ash contents. Significant relationships were also observed between proximate composition and thermal characteristics. Overall, the combined application of proximate analysis and TGA/DSC provided a useful approach for differentiating the nutritional composition and thermal degradation characteristics of freshwater fish muscle.</span><b><span lang="TR" style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"></span></b></span></span></span><br> &nbsp; Freshwater Fish, Meat, Proximate composition, Thermal stability, TGA/DSC 41 63 http://injbir.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-51&slc_lang=fa&sid=1 S. Nousheen 1003194753284600726 1003194753284600726 No Fisheries Research Lab, Department of Zoology, University of Mianwali, Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan I. Amir 1003194753284600727 1003194753284600727 Yes Fisheries Research Lab, Department of Zoology, University of Mianwali, Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan H. Bukhat 1003194753284600728 1003194753284600728 No Fisheries Research Lab, Department of Zoology, University of Mianwali, Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan U. Farooq 1003194753284600729 1003194753284600729 No Fisheries Research Lab, Department of Zoology, University of Mianwali, Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan Sh. Rubab 1003194753284600730 1003194753284600730 No Department of Zoology, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore-54000 A. Zeeshanullah 1003194753284600731 1003194753284600731 No Department of Plant Sciences, Qauid -i- Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan