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Adductor muscle from Pinctada maxima and Pinctada margaritifera were analyzed for nutrient compositions. Both were characterized by relatively high-protein, low-lipid, and low-cholesterol contents. Palmitic acid and docosahexaenoic acid were the dominant saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, respectively, in both species. Amino acid compositions of adductor muscle from both species were characterized by a high abundance of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and arginine, whereas cysteine, then tryptophan, were least abundant. Overall, these nutrient compositions are similar to those reported for other bivalve molluscs. The results are timely given the growing interest in pearl meat consumption and pearl meat farming. KEY WORDS: Pearl oyster meat, proximate composition, fatty acids, amino acids, aquaculture, Pinctada maxima, Pinctada margaritifera, INTRODUCTION Pearl oysters from the families Pteriidae and Margaritidae are harvested for food and used for cultured pearl production throughout the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean (Wada & Temkin 2008, Saucedo et [...]

Oaks cover a vast area of Jordanian forests, and their fruit (named acorns) have good nutritional value. In this study, we investigated the physical, chemical, and nutritional characteristics of the acorns produced by three Jordanian oak species, Quercus aegilops (QA), Quercus infectoria (QI), and Quercus calliprinus (QC). The physicochemical (acorn length, weight; cupule weight, coat weight, cotyledon weight, coat weight percent, cotyledon weight percent and acorn volume) and nutritional quality (protein, fat, fiber, ash, carbohydrate, amino acid, fatty acid and mineral compostions) of the acorns from the three oak species were determined using standard procedures. The acorn of QA showed significantly greater values compared to QC for all physical characteristics assessed while QC exhibited the lowest values; QI presented intermediate values.The chemical composition of the three species showed that fat content varied from 8.18% to 8.99% and the crude fiber and the total carbohydrate content ranged from 3.27% to 3.86% and 76.20% to 81.43%, respectivelyAccording to obtained results, oak acorn can be considered a significant source of protein (9.54% for QC to 10.9% for QA). Oak acorn contained 18 known amino acids (AAs); with total essential amino acids (TEAA) levels in these oak species as 2307.9, 1699.1, and 2262.8 mg/100 g dry weight, respectively. The most abundant essential amino acid found varied between species: in QA it was leucine (446 mg/100 g dry weight), in QC it was arginine (526 mg/100 g dry weight), and in QI it was phenylalanine (395 mg/100 g dry weight). The ratio of TEAA to total amino acids (TAA) was 0.90: 0.50 and 0.79 for QA, QC and QI, respectively, which indicates that QA is the best species in terms of essential amino acid (EAA) proportion. The EAA scores showed that (phenylalanine + tyrosine) and (methionine + cysteine) were the most abundant AAs in oak acorns, while lysine and leucine were the most limited. The ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids in the acorn oil ranged from 3.45:1.00 to 3.93:1.00. Therefore, oak acorn oil may be considered healthy for a human diet. The most abundant minerals in decreasing order were K, P, Ca, Cl, S, Fe, and Mn. These results demonstrate that oak acorns from Jordan have great potential to be included in human feeding. Key words: Amino acids, Fatty acids, Nutritional value, Oak acorn, Quercus L., INTRODUCTION Oaks belong to Quercus genus, which includes more than 300 species in the temperate ecosystem. Many species of Quercus are characteristic of the Mediterranean region [1]. Jordan, as part [...]

This study determined the biochemical composition of the adductor muscle and mantle of two species of the giant clams Tridacna crocea and Tridacna squamosa harvested from the lagoon of South China Sea. Moisture, crude protein, crude lipid, and ash contents of the giant clams (% wet weight) ranged 77.01%-81.47%, 10.90%-15.59%, 0.39%-1.02%, and 2.25%-3.23%, respectively, with some significant differences between species and tissues (P < 0.05). The total amino acid and essential amino acid contents of the adductor muscle were 62.20-61.07 g/100 gand 24.89-24.80 g/100 g, respectively, significantly higher than those in the mantle (52.80-55.98 g/100 g and 17.85-19.73 g/100 g, respectively) (P < 0.05). Total saturated fatty acids (SFA) were found to be higher than total monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). accounting for 41.53%-55.40% for SFA, 25.83%-27.31% for MUFA, and 18.63%-31.25% for PUFA. There was no difference between the MUFA profiles of T. crocea and T. squamosa, whereas the PUFA profiles in T. squamosa were significantly higher than those in T. crocea (P < 0.05). The ratios of total n-3 PUFA to n-6 PUFA were the highest in the mantle of T. squamosa (6.60). followed by the mantle of T. crocea (2.54). and finally, the adductor muscle of T. crocea (1.82) and T. squamosa (1.09). Therefore, these two giant clam species, T. crocea and T. squamosa, are excellent sources of several nutrients that could be beneficial for the health of consumers. KEY WORDS: giant clam, Tridacna crocea, Tridacna squamosa, proximate composition, amino acids, fatty acids, INTRODUCTION Giant clams are a family of bivalve molluscs that are distributed across coral reefs in Indo-Pacific tropical waters (Rosewater 1965, Lucas 1994, Othman et al. 2010). There are currently [...]

Milk fat is usually considered to be proatherogenic, although its fatty acid composition can vary, due mainly to farming conditions. No study has evaluated whether such variation can modify the atherogenic properties of dairy fat. Aortic lipid deposition and related risk factors were examined in Syrian hamsters fed diets for 12 wk containing 200 g/kg of 2 commercial milk fats [high content of saturated fatty acids (HSF) and low content of saturated fatty acids (LSF)] contrasting, respectively, in total saturated fatty acids (72 vs. 67 g/100 g), 18:1, trans (4.24 vs. 7.26 g/100g), and conjugated linoleic acid (mainly cis-9,trans-11 or rumenic acid; 0.39 vs. 2.59 g/100 g). Hamsters fed the LSF-diet had 25% less aortic cholesteryl-ester deposition than those fed the HSF-diet; this was accompanied by an improved plasma cholesterol profile (lower LDL cholesterol and LDL:HDL cholesterol ratio), a lower local inflammatory status (aortic gene expression of cyclooxygenase-2), and lower aortic gene expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (all P < 0.05). Supplementation of the LSF-diet with rumenic acid (up to 9 g/kg) amplified the antiatherogenic effect of the original LSF-diet compared with the HSF-diet, i.e., less aortic cholesterol loading, increased reverse cholesterol transport potential (higher plasma HDL cholesterol concentration and ATP-binding cassette, subfamily A, transporter 1 gene expression in aorta), and decreased LDL-peroxidability index and gene expression of proinflammatory IL-1[beta] in the aorta (all P < 0.05). In conclusion, our results suggest that the atherogenic potential of milk fat can be greatly reduced in products with a naturally high abundance of rumenic acid, and argue for increasing this fatty acid in milk. KEY WORDS: * milk fat * trans-fatty acid * rumenic acid * hamsters * atherosclerosis