Comparative Nutritional Evaluation of Three

Abstract

In the recent past krill (Sinhala: kooni) has been widely considered for its nutritional value. However almostall the pastnutritional studies on krill have been based on temperate species. Literature related tobiochemical composition of tropical species are few. In Sri Lanka no work has been reported on krill.Therefore in the present study, it was aimed to investigate the proximate composition, fatty acid profiles andmineral contents of three dried krill varieties commercially available in Sri Lanka. They included a sun-driedSri Lankan krill product, a boiled and sundried krill variety imported from Indonesia and a freeze-driedvariety imported from India. Based on the observable characteristics, these products most probably belongto the genera Stylocheironand/or Nematoscelis. Crude protein contributed upto54.6 – 71.6% of the drymatter. Crude fat content varied between 4.5 – 9.2% of the dry weight. The ash content was found to rangefrom 22.0 – 40.7%on dry weight basis. GC/MS analysis of fatty acids revealed higher levels ofpolyunsaturated fatty acids (43.1 – 53.1%) for the three krill varieties. Predominating n-3 PUFAs fatty acidswere eicosapenteinoic acid (EPA, C 20:5) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6). Linoleic (C18:2 n-6)and arachidonic (C20:4 n-6) acids were present as main n-6 PUFAs.Palmitic acid (C16:0) and palmitoleicacid (C16:1 n-7) were the main saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, respectively. The calculatedatherogenic and thrombogenic index values varied between 0.80 - 2.49 and 0.17 – 0.61 respectively. Themineral element analysis revealed values which ranged from 361.0 – 483.6 mg/100g, 522.3– 684.3mg/100g,90.5 – 164.8 mg/100g and 503.8 – 776.0 mg/100g, for Na, Mg, K and Ca, respectively. Fe (3.5 – 6.5mg/100g) and Zn (4.1 – 10.9 mg/100g) were detected as the major trace elements. Fluoride contentsrecorded in this study (23.2 – 63 ppm w/w) were much lower than those reported for krill in earlier studies.Overall, this study demonstrated that dried krill has promising nutritional value, due to its favourablebiochemical composition, and deserve further exploitation to increase utilization.

KYWORDS: Krill, proximate composition, fatty acid profile, mineral composition, fluoride level