Nutritional characteristics reveal the biological instincts of three species of shellfish and provide dietary preferences for consumers

Shellfish is one of the most important global marine food supply. In this study, quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (q-NMR) technique was applied to analyze and compare the nutritional compositions and flavor profiles of three species of shellfish, abalone, oyster and scallop, and correlation and metabolic pathways analyses were used to reveal the possible mechanisms affecting their biological nature. Our results indicate that oysters demonstrate the highest nutritional values and pleasant umami and sweet flavors. The difference of choline metabolism in abalone reflect the essential difference of abalone as gastropod. As the shellfish with the lowest salinity preference, glycine in oyster is more involved in the metabolism of taurine and hypotaurine. The lack of obvious aggregation in correlation analysis of scallops may be due to the nature of subtidal organisms. Our results can help to better guide consumers and provide new insights into the biological nature and functions of shellfish.