In this study, the proximate composition and the amino and fatty acid profi les of shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei(prey) and wild and cultured cuttlefi sh Sepia pharaonis(the latter fed the prey) were determined and compared with FAO/WHO recommendations. The resulting scores for isoleucine, phenylalanine+tyrosine, histidine, lysine, threonine, and tryptophan in cultured cuttlefi sh were ≥150. The ratio of EAA(essential amino acids)/nonessential amino acids in cultured cuttlefi sh(0.82) was higher than in the wild form(0.80). All EAA amino acid scores for cultured cuttlefi sh were higher than their wild counterparts, except for histidine and tryptophan. Both groups of cuttlefi sh possessed similar saturated fatty acid content, with the cultured containing much more total(Σ) monounsaturated fatty acids, Σ n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids(PUFA), and eicosapentaenoic acid(C20:5 n-3) but less Σ n-3 PUFA, arachidonic acid(C20:4 n-6), and docosahexaenoic acid(C22:6 n-3) than their wild counterparts. Therefore, the present results suggest that these cultured cuttlefi sh were better than the wild form for human health. Notably, these results also indicate that the nutritional composition of these cuttlefi sh might have been signifi cantly affected by diet.
We developed a species-specific PCR method to identify species among dehydrated products of 10 sea cucumber species.Ten reverse species-specific primers designed from the 16 S rRNA gene,in combination with one forward universal primer,generated PCR fragments of ca.270 bp length for each species.The specificity of the PCR assay was tested with DNA of samples of 21 sea cucumber species.Amplification was observed in specific species only.The species-specific PCR method we developed was successfully applied to authenticate species of commercial products of dehydrated sea cucumber,and was proven to be a useful,rapid,and low-cost technique to identify the origin of the sea cucumber product.
