Seasonal amino acid profiles and mineral contents of green tiger shrimp (Penaeus semisulcatus De Haan, 1844) and speckled shrimp (Metapenaeus monoceros Fabricus, 1789) from the Eastern Mediterranean

The amino acid and mineral contents of green tiger shrimp (Penaeus semisulcatus) and speckled shrimp (Metapenaeus monoceros) from the North Eastern Mediterranean were determined for each season of the year. For both species, the highest protein values were recorded during the summer (p < 0.05). The most abundant amino acids were, in decreasing order, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, arginine, lysine, leucine, glycine and alanine. The ratio of essential to nonessential amino acids (mean value) for green tiger shrimp and speckled shrimp were 0.60 and 0.59, respectively. Mineral contents of the two species varied with season (P < 0.05), except for the Ca content in green tiger shrimp. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.