SIUDIES ON THE BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION,ENERGETICS AND ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS OF THREE MUDSKIPPERS IN XIAMEN HARBOUR

Measurements were made on the contents of protein,lipid,glycogen(PLG)and water,and on caloric values and amino acids,in muscle of three mudskippers periophthalmus cantonensis,Scarteiaosviridis and Boleophthalmus pectinirostris collected from Haicang,Xiamen.The essential amino acids(EAA)for these fishes were also studied with radioisotopic trace method.The results showed:(1)Thecontent of each component in tested fish muscles differed slightly,and protein was the most importantcomponent making up from 6.685% to 9.891% of the wet weight (about 44.21%-50.45% of dryweight);(2)Energy calculated from the sum of protein, lipid and glycogen in wet muscle was low (<4.3kJ/g) in these Fishes, especially in B. pectinirostris(<3.1 kJ/g), the ratios of energy to protein content (E/P) also were low(<39.873-45.535kJ/g), (3)Seventeen amino acids were determined in thesethree fishes.The content of the same amino acid(among the seventeen) tested in different species andsexes varied slightly.The amounts of methionine, phenyl

Studies on the biochemical composition,energetics and essential amino acids of three mudskippers in Xiamen Harbour

Measurements were made on the contents of protein, lipid, glycogen (PLG) and water, and on caloric values and amino acids, in muscle of three mudskippers Periophthalmis cantonensis, Scarteiaos viridis and Boleophthalmus pectinirostris collected from Haicang, Xiamen. The essential amino acids (EAA) for these fishes were also studied with radioisotopic trace method. The results showed: (1) The content of each component in tested fish muscles differed slightly, and protein was the most important component making up from 6.685% to 9.891% of the wet weight (about 44.21%-50.45% of dry weight); (2) Energy calculated from the sum of protein, lipid and glycogen in wet muscle was low (<4.3kJ/g) in these fishes, especially in B. pectinirostris (<3.1 kJ/g); the ratios of energy to protein content (E/P) also were low (<39.873 -45.535kJ/g); (3) Seventeen amino acids were determined in these three fishes. The content of the same amino acid (among the seventeen) tested in different species and sexes varied slightly. The amounts of methionine, phenylalanine lysine, arginme, histidine, threonine isoleucine and leucine which are indispensable for the needs of human beings and animals were relative-ly high, accounting for 47.35%-48.06% of the total amino acid content. (4) Leucine, isoleucine, arginme, lysine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, methionine, histidine, threonine, and valine, are essential in the diet of the three mudskippers as the radioisotopic trace method using D-U-~(14) C]-glucose showed little or no radioactivity was incorporated into these ten amino acids.