Biochemical composition of different body parts of Gafrarium tumidum (Roding, 1798) from Mandapam, South East Coast of India

Abstract

Due to its abundance in various areas along the Mandapam coast (latitude 9° 17”N; longitude 79° 11”E), Southeast coast of India, the commonly occurring intertidal bivalve Gafrarium tumidum was selected for this study to investigate its nutritive value. Tissues of different body parts such as mantle, viscera and foot were analyzed. Biochemical constituents like protein, carbohydrate and fat were estimated in different body parts and the percentage of protein was 61.74%, carbohydrate 32.64% and lipid 14.37%. The fatty acids of bivalve were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. In the fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were found to be dominant, contributing 6.99% (2.34, 2.67 and 1.98% mantle, viscera and foot, respectively), whereas saturated fatty acids (SFA) contributed 5.19% (1.70, 1.94 and 1.55%) followed by monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) which contributed 2.75% (0.92 0.93 0.90%). Stearic (0.81%) and palmitic acids (0.71%) were the dominant saturated fatty acid in viscera and oleic acid (0.93%) was the monounsaturated fatty acid found in the viscera. Linoleic (1.38%) and α- linolenic acids (1.07%) were the dominant polyunsaturated fatty acid in viscera. The total amino acid detected was found to be 42.97%, among them the essential amino acids (EAA) was 20.77% and the non essential amino acids (NEAA) present was found to be 22.2%. The results of this study revealed that phenylalanine (1.19%) and methionine (1.04%) in EAA and alanine (1.10%) and glutamic acid (1.10%) in NEAA were the major constituents. It could also be added that the composition of marine bivalves is a nutritional assurance to millions of malnourished people.

Key words: Mandapam, bivalve, Gafrarium tumidum, fatty acid, amino acid, biochemical composition,