Chemical composition, cholesterol, fatty acid and amino acid in two populations of brown crab Cancer pagurus: Ecological and human health implications

The brown crab, Cancer pagurus, is a valued decapod species captured mainly in the UK and France. In Portugal, Scottish crabs and females of all species are less expensive than crabs caught in the English Channel and males. In this work the proximate chemical composition, cholesterol, fatty acid and amino acid content of female and male C. pagurus edible tissues from the Scottish coast and English Channel were compared. There was no evidence that the fishing ground influenced the chemical composition of tissues, but there were significant differences between tissues and sexes. Muscle was richer in protein, but poorer in fat and cholesterol, than gonads and hepatopancreas. Ovaries had more protein, fat, cholesterol and amino acids than testes. The fatty acid profiles in muscle and gonads were dominated by PUFA, while hepatopancreas was richer in MUFA and SFA. Lower n-3 fatty acid content and n-3/n-6 fatty acid ratio in hepatopancreas contributed to higher atherogenic and thrombogenic indices. Considering the chemical composition, there is no reason for price differentiation between crabs from different locations. As far as sex is concerned the principal difference that might increase male crabs’ value is the meat yield content of claws, which was higher than females’ claws.