Abstract:

The aims of this study are to analyze and evaluate the nutrients of muscle in Sepiella japonica collected from four
geographic populations, Zhoushan (ZS), Wenzhou (WZ), Xiamen (XM), and Zhanjiang (ZJ) cities. The general nutrient
compositions were determined by routine methods, amino acid compositions by using amino acid analyzer, fatty acid
compositions by GC-MS and mineral contents by atom absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The results showed that the protein
contents and energy value of S. japonica from WZ were higher than those from three other areas. The maximal content
of carbohydrate was detected in ZS. The total levels of amino acids in S. japonica from different areas were arranged in
a descending order as followed: ZJ ((64.08 ± 1.05)%) > XM ((63.97 ± 0.94)%) > WZ ((63.90 ± 0.84)%) > ZS ((63.39 ±
0.67)%). The ratio of essential amino acids (EAA) to total amino acids (TAA) was in the range of 33.90%–34.32% and the
essential amino acid index (EAAI) of S. japonica from ZJ was the highest among four areas. The content of delicious amino
acids was abundant, which was in the range of (32.32 ± 0.56)% to (32.81 ± 0.68)%. The percentages of ω-3 and ω-6 PUFA
in total fatty acids were high and the content of Ca, Fe, Zn and Mg were also rich. Even though the nutritional compositions
were a little different in muscle of S. japonica from four wild populations, S. japonica is a kind of seafood with high
nutritional value when compared with other cephalopod species.

Key words: Sepiella japonica, nutritional components, amino acid, fatty acid, minerals