Gulsum Balcik Misir, Sebahattin Kutlu, Adnan Erteken, Mustafa Yaman, Senem Akkus Cevikkalp
Deep water pink shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) is a species of high commercial importance and the most dominant shrimp species in Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas in Turkey. Biochemical composition, fatty acids, cholesterol and amino acids composition of this species inhabiting these seas were investigated. Mediterranean Sea samples have the highest; Aegean Sea samples have the lowest lipid and cholesterol contents as 0.9 g/100 g, 147 mg/100 g and 0.3 g/100 g, 137 mg/100 g, respectively. ∑PUFA were determined as 30.29%, 19.85% and 19.28%; ∑n-3/∑n-6 was calculated as 6.62, 4.72 and 4.40 for Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, respectively. DHA was the main PUFA among others for all samples. The highest mean essential amino acids were lysine (1826 mg/100 g) and leucine (1397 mg/100 g), while highest non-essential amino acids were glutamic acid (2860 mg/100 g) and glycine (1673 mg/100 g). As a result, it can be said that deep sea pink shrimp inhabiting in Marmara is the most valuable source of ∑PUFA with the highest values of DHA and EPA among other seas. Aegean Sea is the poorest source especially essential amino acids contents of the species.