The Effects of Different Commercial Feeds and Seasonal Variation on Fillet Amino Acid Profile of Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) and Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

Abstract

This study determined the influence of marine fish feeds on the amino acid (AA) composition in fillet of sea bream and sea bass at different seasons. AA profile of cultured fish fillets mirrored dietary amino acids (correlation ranged from 0.77 to 0.91). Slight variations (P>0.05) existed in protein and AA profiles in cultured and wild sea bream and sea bass. Main essential amino acids (EAA) were arginine, leucine and lysine while alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid and glycine were the main non-essential amino acids (NEAA) for both winter and summer in fish filets. EAA/NEAA ratio ranged from 0.96 to 1.10 and 1.02 to 1.08 in summer and winter respectively for cultured and wild sea bream. In sea bass, the range was from 0.90 to 1.16 in summer and from 0.96 to 1.19 in winter. The study revealed that the EAA composition of fish fillets was affected by feeds and seasons (P<0.05). EAA/NEAA ratios indicated that both captured and cultured sea bream and sea bass fillets are sources of well-balanced protein and/or AA in all seasons for humans.