BACKGROUND: Aquatic invertebrates are playing an important role in assessment of the water contaminants and also serve as a major component of food chain. Freshwater mussels are considered to be the good bioindicator species of aquatic environment and widely used to determine the metals load.

METHODS: Proximate composition and elemental analysis were carried out in edible (foot, mantle) and non-edible portion (gills) of freshwater mussels (Anodonta anatina) harvested from various site of Chashma Lake, River Indus Pakistan.

RESULTS: The nutritional components were varied among the studied portion and muscular foot found to be the best part for consumption. Protein and fat contents were significantly higher in foot (15.90±0.88%, 1.19±0.26%) as compared to mantle (10.78±2.24%, 0.27±0.09%) and gills (6.44±1.22%, 0.53±0.15%) respectively. For the macro minerals mantle had high concentration of Ca (46838±984 mg/kg), Na (2706±343 mg/kg), P (6921±1063 mg/kg) and Mn (7207±1046 mg/kg) as compared to foot.

CONCLUSIONS: Heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Cr) concentration in edible portions were lower than the permissible limit by WHO whereas the concentration of Pb was slightly higher than the recommended value that might be the risk for the consumers. Being filter feeder gills accumulated the high concentration of all the metals and found to be the key portion for biomonitoring studies. Freshwater mussels of Chashma Lake Indus River are the rich source of protein and all the other micro and macro minerals therefore could be used as an excellent source of food.