Proximate Composition and Nutritional Quality of the Meat of the Squat Lobster Munida gregaria (Fabricius 1973)

Abstract

The squat lobster Munida gregaria has been recognized as a potential resource in several countries. However, data about its composition and nutritional value are scarce. This study provides information about the nutrients and nutritional quality of M. gregaria meat. Meat yield, proximate composition, cholesterol content, and fatty acid (FA) and amino acid (AAs) profiles were analyzed, and nutritional quality indexes were estimated. The average meat yield was 9.93%. The yearly average of the proximate composition of the M. gregaria meat (g/100 g meat) was moisture = 77.6, protein = 13.7, lipids = 3.84, and ash = 2.19. The average annual cholesterol content was 6.60 mg/100 g. The predominant FA (%) was C20:5ω3 (23.6), followed by C18:1ω9c (20.9), C22:6ω3 (18.5), and C16:0 (16.3); the unsaturated fatty acids were 72.8% of the total FA. The main AAs (g/100 g protein) were glutamic acid (15.1), leucine (9.47), and aspartic acid (8.51). Regarding the nutritional quality, the polyunsaturated FA/saturated FA ratio (1.99), ω3/ω6 ratio (8.62), atherogenic index (0.26), thrombotic index (0.56), hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio (4.07), and polyene index (2.58) showed that M. gregaria meat provides lipids that are beneficial to the human diet. Moreover, M. gregaria meat provides high-quality proteins, which are well balanced in their essential AAs composition.