AUTHOR=He Cheng , Ye Ting , Zeng Junxi , Zhang Hongkuan , Sun Yizhou , Zhang Chuanxu , He Xianqing , Qiu Jiale , Zheng Huaiping 

TITLE=Nutrient comparisons among the noble scallops Chlamys nobilis with three different shell colours to provide advices for consumers to choose high-quality food

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1395339

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2024.1395339

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>In aquatic animals, colors not only reflect their sensory qualities but also affect their nutritional components and market price. Noble scallop <italic>Chlamys nobilis</italic> is an importantly economical bivalve cultured in the south sea of China and renowned for its various shell colors.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>In this study, the nutrient compositions were compared among golden, yellow, and brown shell colour noble scallops originating from the same population for breeding new varieties.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Among three colour scallops, there is no significant difference in the content of moisture, ash, and total protein content (TPC) but significant differences in total carotenoid content (TCC), total lipid content (TLC), and amino acids (AAs) (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05), with the TCC of the brown scallop being about 2 times lower. The yellow scallop contained the same nutrients as TCC, TLC, ∑PUFAs (including EPA and DHA), and n-3/n-6 as the golden scallop, and both were significantly higher than the brown scallop (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05), but they had significantly lower ∑SFAs than the latter (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). The correlation between the nutrient indices and the shell color of scallops was 67.5%. There is a significantly positive correlation between TCC and ∑PUFAs (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05), while a significantly negative correlation exists between TCC and ∑SFAs (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). More importantly, the yellow scallop had significantly higher EAAs and FAAs than the golden scallop (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05).</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>This study showed that the yellow noble scallop not only enriched in carotenoids and PUFAs but also enriched in amino acids. Therefore, the yellow scallop is more benefit to human health, which can provide high-quality food for customers.</p></sec>