Nutritive Value of Hard and Soft Shell Crabs of Portunus sanguinolentus (Herbst)

Iin the present study, biochemical composition (protein, carbohydrate and lipid) including amino acids and minerals were studied both soft and hard shell crabs of P.sanguinolentus. The protein, carbohydrate and lipid contents were found to be higher in hard shell crabs than that of soft shell crabs. Totally 10 essential amino acids were reported. Among these, 8 individual essential amino acids are reported in hard shell crabs and 7 amino acids are recorded in soft shell crabs. The hard shell crabs totally contributed maximum amount of essential amino acids (51.096%) and minimum was in soft shell crabs (43.627%).Among 10 nonessential amino acids, 8 amino acids are reported in hard shell crabs and 7 amino acids are recorded in soft shell crabs. Hard shell crabs totally contributed 53.783% of non essential amino acids and soft shell crabs 49.719%. In the present study, totally 5 minerals were reported both hard and soft shell crabs. The hard shell crabs contributed maximum (3.985mg) of minerals and minimum was in soft shell crabs (3.018 mg). The protein, carbohydrate and lipid contents were found to be higher in hard shell crabs than that of soft shell crabs. The individual and total amino acid (essential +non essential) contributions are much higher in hard shell crabs than soft shell crabs. The total contribution of the minerals is higher in hard shell crabs when compared to soft shell crabs. So hard shell crabs are declared superior over soft shell crabs in terms of nutritive value.