Proximate Composition and Amino Acid Profile of the Edible Muscle of European Crayfish Astacus astacus L. Inhabiting the Orchomenos Region in Central Greece

The aim of this study was to determine the proximate composition and amino acid profile of the edible muscle of European crayfish Astacus astacus L. Animals were collected from Orchomenos region in Central Greece and muscle tissue samples were collected for chemical analysis. Total crude protein and crude lipid content of muscle tissues were determined using the Kjeldahl method and Folch’s procedure, respectively. Amino acids profile was performed by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatographic (UPLC) determination of the acid hydrolysed muscle extract after derivatization with AccQ-Tag reagent (Waters, USA). The results showed that protein and lipid content of crayfish muscle tissue were 16.55 ± 0.4 g 100 g-1 and 0.52 ± 0.20 g 100 g-1, respectively. Also, the moisture and ash content were 80.93 ± 0.36 g 100 g-1 and 1.25 ± 0.14 g 100 g-1, respectively. Amino acids analysis of muscle tissue revealed that the highest values were those of glutamic acid (2.98 g 100 g-1) and arginine (2.19 g 100g-1) as well as those for aspartic acid (1.88 g 100 g-1), lysine (1.47 g 100 g-1) and leucine (1.33 g 100 g-1). The lowest values were found for histidine (0.35 ± 0.03 g 100 g-1) and methionine (0.47 ± 0.01 g 100 g-1). The results of this study showed that the crayfish of Orchomenos region can be considered as an important source of essential nutrients in the human diet due to its protein and essential amino acids content, which are relatively comparable to those of farmed sea bream (Sparus aurata L.), as well as to farmed and wild sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). However, the lipid content of Orchomenos crayfish was found to be insignificant and negligible. Overall, the protein quality of European crayfish can be considered as a main factor in selecting this species as a candidate species for European aquaculture diversification.