Evaluation of nutritional quality of Antarctic krill meal by different processing methods

We evaluate the nutritional quality of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) meals:meal A (freeze-dried Antarctic krill meal),meal B (steam cooked Antarctic krill meal, processed on board without adding anti-oxidant) andmeal C (steam cooked Antarctic krill meal, processed on board with adding anti-oxidant). Results show that all the3 samples havegood nutritional quality, with a high content of crude protein (61.73%~68.48%),total content of amino acids (AA) (51.46%~66.32%), total contentof 10 essential amino acids for shrimp and fish (EAA) (23.69%~31.78%), respectively. Moreover,the contents ofpoly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is 44.05%~52.74%,and a high proportion of EPA and DHAis also found in the 3samples (38.55%~46.38%). Based on the results of AA, EAA, the essential amino acids index (EAAI), score of ratio coefficient of amino acid (SRC), PUFA, and the total contents of EPA and DHA, Antarctic krill meal C has thehighest nutritionalquality compared with the other two, and has high nutritional value for further development and utilization.