Characteristics of minerals extracted from the mid-gut gland of Japanese scallop Patinopecten yessoensis at various pH values

This experiment was carried out to determine the proximate composition of the mid-gut gland (MGG) of the Japanese scallop to evaluate the characteristics of divalent minerals and water-soluble protein at various pHs, and to examine Cd-binding protein at different molecular weights. MGG of scallop contained protein, fat and ash of 28.9 g/100 g dry matter, 44.6 g/100 g dry matter and 6.78 g/100 dry matter, respectively. MGG also contained the macrominerals sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium, and the trace minerals iron, zinc, cadmium and copper. The solubility of divalent minerals and water-soluble protein was high in both acidic and alkaline conditions, except that magnesium was not affected by acidity. The solubility of copper and iron had a positive correlation with water-soluble protein at all pH values, whereas cadmium had a strong correlation at alkaline pH. Low-molecular-weight water-soluble protein (fraction III, 437.5 < MW < 1,355) bound cadmium strongly in acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions. However, in acidic conditions cadmium had the strongest binding to protein.