Effects Of Status And Stage Of Life,Temperature And Diet On Nutritional And Bio-Functional Components In The Lined Seahorse(Hippocampus Erectus)

Many factors,such as status and stage of life,and temperature and diet,would affect nutritional and bio-functional components of fish.Investigating the effects of those factors on nutritional and bio-functional components is very important for farmed fishes.In the present study,effects of statuses and stages of life,temperatures,and diets on nutritional and bio-functional components in the lined seahorse(H.erectus),a important species for traditional Chinese medicine,were investigated.1、A Comparison of Nutritional and Bio-Functional Components in the Lined Seahorse(Hippocampus erectus)at Different life StagesIn order to evaluate the nutritional value at different life stages(juvenile(J):5.88±0.45 cm in height;middle size female and male(MSF,MSM): 9.48±0.37 cm,8.84±0.52 cm,virgin;paired mature female and male(PMF,PMM): 12.10±0.48 cm,12.33±1.68 cm),the nutritional components(including amino acids,fatty acids,and two trace elements,zinc and selenium)and bio-functional components(including nucleosides,nucleotides,and cholesterols)in the lined seahorses(H.erectus)were analyzed.The results show that:(1)The seahorses at different growth stages all contained seventeen amino acids,but individual’s contents differed.The content of EAA,EAA/TAA and EAA/NEAA in the MSF seahorses was significantly higher than the other groups;(2)With seahorse growth,the composition and content of fatty acids changed.In the five groups,C18:0 was absent in the MSF and PMM seahorses,and C18:1n9t is absent in the J and PMF individuals.In the MSF seahorses,25 fatty acids were identified,more than in the other statuses.The contents of ARA,DHA,PUFA and n-3 PUFA in the juveniles were significantly higher than the others(P < 0.05),and the contents decreased with growth;(3)The seahorse is a zinc-and selenium-rich fish.The content of zinc in adult female seahorses was the highest(100.22 ± 7.53 mg/kg),which was significantly higher than the juveniles(81.41±6.81 mg/kg)and the middle size seahorses(female: 86.64±0.47 mg/kg,male: 79.98±0.24 mg/kg).The content of selenium in the middle size seahorses(female: 7.64±0.17 mg/kg,male: 7.74±0.29mg/kg)was significantly higher than the juveniles(5.47±0.21 mg/kg)and the mature seahorses(female: 3.70±0.15 mg/kg,male: 4.40±0.29 mg/kg);(4)The composition of nucleosides in the seahorses was the same at different life stages,and 3 nucleotides and6 nucleosides were detected in the lined seahorse,respectively.The contents of cytidine,uridine,adenosine and cholesterol in the juveniles were higher than meddle size and adult seahorses and decreased with ages.The results of the present study will provide fundamental knowledge for the development and utilization of the lined seahorse in traditional Chinese medicine industry.2、A Comparison of Nutritional and Bio-functional Components in the Healthy and Enteritis-Diseased Lined Seahorse(Hippocampus erectus)To better utilize seahorse as traditional Chinese medicine,we evaluated the nutritional value of the lined seahorses by analyzing and comparing the nutritional components(including amino acids,fatty acids,and two trace elements,zinc and selenium)and bio-functional components(including nucleosides,nucleotides,and cholesterols)of the healthy and enteritis diseased individuals,the female and male,as well as in its head and body.The results show that:(1)The crude protein of the lined seahorse averaged at 61.09-70.52%,and the crude fat was relatively lower with an average of 0.95-3.90%.The crude fat and crude protein in the head of the lined seahorse were lower than those in the trunk,while ash content was diametrically different;(2)The lined seahorse contained a variety of amino acids,including seven essential amino acids.We also found the first limited amino acid is isoleucine.The contents of glycine,cysteine,methionine and proline had no significant difference between the healthy and diseased individuals,between the male and female,and between the body parts.The contents of the remaining 13 amino acids did not differ significantly between the healthy and diseased individuals,between the male and female,but the contents in the trunk were significantly higher than that in the head;(3)Twenty-two fatty acids were detected in the seahorse,and meet the ideal fatty acid profile(PUFA/SFA ratio > 0.4).The seahorse was rich with oleic acid and docosahexaenoic acid,which are unsaturated fatty acids with important physiological activities.The male and female,as well as healthy and diseased individuals were similar in fatty acid content.With the exception of C24:0 and C22:1n9,the contents of fatty acids in the head were significantly lower than that of the trunk;(4)Selenium content in the head(0.88-0.95 mg/kg)of the seahorse was significantly lower than that in the trunk(1.16-1.32 mg/kg);(5)Two nucleotides and six nucleosides were detected in the seahorse.The content of uridine in the male was significantly higher than that in the female,whereas the hypoxanthine content in the male was lower than in the female.Higher contents of adenine nucleotides,guanine nucleosides and thymidine nucleosides in the head than in the trunk were determined.The seahorse contained a large number of cholesterols with the effect of warming the kidney and strengthening Yang.The cholesterol content in the head was 1828.93-2164.62 mg/kg,which was obviously lower than that of the trunk which was 1893.82-2555.56 mg/kg.The results show that enteritis did not reduce medicinal value of the seahorse.3 Effects of Temperature and Diet on Nutritional and Bio-functional Components in the Lined Seahorse(Hippocampus erectus)A two-factor test was carried out to evaluate the effects of different temperatures(23℃,25.5℃ and 28℃)and diets(live adult brine shrimp,copepods,live adult brine shrimp + copepods,frozen Mysis sp.)on nutritional(amino acids,fatty acids,zinc and selenium)and bio-functional components(nucleoside,nucleotide and cholesterol)in the lined seahorse(5.10±0.48 cm in height).The experiment was conducted for four weeks.The results indicate that both temperature and diet had significant effects on all components and the interaction was significant.Specifically,(1)Amino acid score and AAS,CS and EAAI scores show that the amino acid nutritional value of seahorses fed frozen Mysis sp.at 23℃ was the highest.(2)Except C12:0 was not detected in the treatments at 23℃,24 fatty acids were detected in the seahorse.When fed with frozen Mysis sp.,the contents of EPA、DHA、PUFA and n-3 PUFA decreased with increase in temperature.According to the result of PCA,the seahorse in the treatment fed frozen Mysis sp.at 23℃ had the highest nutritional score.(3)The contents of zinc and selenium in the seahorse fed frozen Mysis spp.were significantly higher than those fed brine shrimp(P<0.05).The content of zinc in the seahorse fed Mysis sp.at 23℃ and the content of selenium fed brine shrimp + copepods at 25.5℃ were the highest.(4)The contents of uracil,adenine and thymidine in the seahorse at 23℃ were significantly lower than those treatments at 25.5℃ and 28℃(P<0.05).The levels of uracil,guanine,cytosine,uridine and guanosine in the seahorse cultured at 28℃ were significantly higher than those at 23℃ and 25.5℃(P<0.05)when fed adult brine shrimp + copepods.The nutritional scores of the seahorse in the treatments of brine shrimp + copepods and brine shrimp at 28℃ were the highest.