Chemical Composition and Protein Quality of Some Southern New England Marine Species

Abstract

Chemical composition, nutritional quality of protein and mineral content of cod, whiting, scup, squid and monkfish were determined. With a protein content ranging between 15 and 18%, the amino acid composition, in vitro enzymatic digestibility and PER evaluation indicated variation among two species. Protein quality of scup was significantly superior and that of squid was significantly inferior (p < 0.05) when compared to other species. The ratio of essential to nonessential amino acids ranged between a high of 0.72 for whiting and a low of 0.62 for squid. The cholesterol values for all the species, except squid (80.65 mg/100g tissue), were between 18.58 and 37.69 mg/100g tissue. The elemental analysis indicated scup and squid values deviating from the other species for major essential trace elements.