Meat Quality of Chinese Mitten Crabs Fattened with Natural and Formulated Diets

After 42 days feeding on either a Huayi formulated diet (HY) or trash fish (TF), the meat quality of Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, was compared. The meat yield of males (25 vs. 22%) was higher, but the total edible yield was lower than that of the females (p < 0.05). The proximate composition of both genders fed two diets was similar (p > 0.05), and there was no significant difference in the total collagen content of the meat (0.2-0.30%) between both dietary treatments and genders (p > 0.05). The diets had no significant effects on free amino acid content of the meat, while gender significantly affected the contents of some amino acids, such as taurine and glycine. Crabs fed TF had significantly lower contents of 20:5n-3 as well as higher arachidonic acid (ARA)/eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) value compared with those of same sex crabs fed HY (p < 0.05). There were no significant dietary effects on a range of sensory traits evaluated by panelists, neither in female nor in male crabs. These results suggested no negative effects of formulated diet HY on the meat quality compared to trash fish. Therefore, diet HY could be used to replace the trash fish for fattening mitten crabs.