Abstract

Three wild populations of crucifix crab Charybdis feriatus were sampled and muscle was analyzed for proximate composition, amino acid and fatty acid composition, aimed to quantify and compare the nutritional quality from three different locations in China. Results showed that crude protein content in muscle of female crucifix crab C. feriatus from Zhoushan (ZS) and Xiapu (XP) (84.84%-88.35%) were significantly higher than that of crucifix crab C. feriatus from Qionghai (QH) (74.33%), while there was no significant difference in terms of crude fat content (3.82%-4.07%). The highest content of ash was found in muscle of crucifix crab C. feriatus from QH (5.36%). The muscle of crucifix crab C. feriatus from ZS and XP had significantly higher contents of total amino acids, essential amino acids, non-essential amino acids and delicious amino acids than those of QH group (P < 0.05). The total saturated and unsaturated fatty acid content in the muscle of crucifix crab C. feriatus from three wild populations showed significant difference (P < 0.05). The ZS group had highest content of poly-unsaturated fatty acids (33.64%) and total content of EPA and DHA (22.85%) as well, followed by XP and QH group (P < 0.05). Overall, the differences in chemical composition in muscle of C. feriatus from different locations could be attributed to environmental variables and maturation stage.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.