Analysis of nutrition of dorsal muscles in cobia (Rachycentron canadum)

In the report, the current national standards were performed to determine the basic nutrients, amino acid content and fatty acid composition of the dorsal muscles of male and female cobia, and which were compared with that of the other marine fishes. The results showed that the content of arachidonic acid and other fatty acids in the muscles of cobia ranked first; the crude protein, specific amino acids and EPA+DHA content in the muscles of cobia also ranked high in the list; the moisture content of female fish was significantly higher than that of male fishes (P<0.05), however, there were no significant differences in crude protein, crude fat and ash (P>0.05); the top three amino acids was glutamic acid, aspartic acid and alanine, respectively, and the total amino acid content of male cobia was significantly higher than that of female cobia (P<0.05); the composition of fatty acids was dominated by saturated fatty acids, followed by monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids; the content of many fatty acids in female cobia, except for oleic acid, was significantly higher than that in male cobia (P<0.05). In summary, male and female cobia are high-quality marine economic fishes with rich nutritional components, especially excellent fatty acid content. Our findings aimed at evaluating the nutritional value of the muscle of cobia, which is an important species of marine cage culture in southern China, and which provide an important basis for optimizing its artificial breeding and the deep processing technology.