Comparative analysis of nutritional composition of muscle from Siganus oramin living in different habitats

To provide basic data for the production of Siganus oramin formula feed, we measured the general nutritional composition, amino acids and fatty acids in the muscle of S. oramin from industrial farming, high pond farming and the wild by biochemical analysis, investigated the effects of habitat on the muscle the nutrition and quality of S. oramin. The results show that compared with the wild fish, the contents of crude protein and crude lipid were higher but those of ash and moisture were lower in the muscle of the farmed fish, and the crude fat content in the industrial farmed fish was significantly higher than that of the other groups (P<0.05). Moreover, there were 17 common amino acids in the three kinds of fishes. Among them the glutamate content was the highest. For essential amino acids (EAA), lysine had the highest content. The essential amino acid index (EAAI) was highest in high pond farmed fish but lowest in the wild fish. Furthermore, there were 26 species fatty acids in the two kinds of farmed fish but only 24 species were found in the wild fish. The contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), n-6 series C18:2n6c were highest in the two farmed fishes, while those of the C22:6n3 (DHA) and C20:5n3 (EPA) of n-3 series were significantly higher in the wild fish. The ratio of n-3/n-6 and the content of DHA+EPA in the wild fish were significantly different from the two farmed fishes (P<0.05). Thus, it is revealed that the farmed S. oramin's nutrition and flavor are better than the wild ones, but they lack n-3 PUFA such as DHA and EPA.