Elsevier

Food Chemistry

Volume 133, Issue 3, 1 August 2012, Pages 822-826
Food Chemistry

Chemical composition of shells from red (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) and green (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) sea urchin

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.01.099Get rights and content

Abstract

The shells from red and green sea urchins accounted for 47.9 and 40.7% of their body weights, respectively. The red and green sea urchin shells contained 91.08 and 90.77% minerals and 4.06 and 4.99% proteins, respectively. The shells did not contain any chitin. Sea urchin shells had a relatively large amount of naphthoquinone pigments, 121 mg per 100 g in red and 163 mg per 100 g in green species. The small quantities of glucosamine detected (20 mg/g in red and 25 mg/g in green sea urchins) originated from mucopolysaccharides present in a layer of connective tissues attached to the shells. Using EI–MS spinochromes A, B, C, and D were found in fractions of naphthoquinone pigments separated from shells of green sea urchin by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. The presence of the molecular ion of spinochrome D in its mass spectrum of well separated fractions V–VII may suggest that this compound can appear as a complex with organic compounds and could be a derivative of benzene dicarboxylic acid.

Highlights

► Shells of sea urchins constitute 40.7–77.9% of the total body weight. ► Naphthoquinone was present in both green and red sea urchin shell extracts. ► Shells of sea urchins contain spinochromes. ► Colour of sea urchin shells is influenced by different amounts of the same pigments.

Introduction

Sea urchins belong to the group of echinoderm marine invertebrates that are related to sea star, brittle seastar and seacucumbers. They have spherical bodies which are encased in a hard shell (test) and are completely covered by many sharp spines. Sea urchins are consumed primarily by the Japanese, French, South Americans and, to a lesser extent, North Americans, mainly in New York, Boston, California and British Columbia. The edible parts of sea urchins are the orange–yellow roe contained in five gonadal sections and milt (male gonads). Sea urchin roe is considered superior in flavour to caviar and oyster and is consumed either raw or as fermented products (Lee and Haard, 1982, Tanikawa, 1971). Enzymatic hydrolysates from purple sea urchin showed antioxidant activity by using DPPH assay and reducing power assay (Qin et al., 2011). Antitumour activity of polysaccharides from Dalian sea urchin eggs was confirmed by Liu et al. (2007). Antibacterial activity of the extracts from different body parts of the green sea urchin was found by Haug et al. (2002). Polyhydroxylated naphthoquinone pigments from shells of purple sea urchin exhibited antiradical activity against DPPH, superoxide radical anion, and hydrogen peroxide (Kuwahara et al., 2009).

Sea urchin gonads are exploited as a delicacy around the word. They are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and carotenoids (β-carotene and echinenone) (Chen et al., 2010, Dincer and Cakli, 2007, Shpigel et al., 2005). Furthermore, importance of feed supply in lipid composition of sea urchin gonads was demonstrated by Liyana-Pathirana, Shahidi, and Whittick (2002).

The red (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) and green (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) sea urchins are found in the West and East coasts of Canada, respectively. Commercial harvesting of green sea urchins in Newfoundland has been conducted in the Trinity Bay and Conception Bay areas. In 2006, landings were 235 metric tonnes with a value of $312,856 (Christian, Grant, Meade, & Noble, 2010).

Processing of sea urchins produces a large amount of shell waste which may become a major concern for processing plants. This by-product, however, may potentially serve as a source of value-added components. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the chemical composition of sea urchin shells, usually called theca or test.

Section snippets

Materials

Red sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) and green sea urchin (Stronglyocentrotus droebachiensis) were harvested by divers in the Vancouver area and coasts of Portugal Cove, Newfoundland, respectively. They were then transferred live into the laboratory and were subsequently kept at −20 °C until use. Specimens analyzed ranged from approximately 44–125 g for Strongylocentrotus francisanus and 30–74 g for Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis. After thawing, testis were cut with a knife,

Results and discussion

The shells with movable sharp spines from red (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) and green (Stronglyocentrotus droebachiensis) sea urchins constituted 47.9 ± 5.6 and 40.7 ± 3.3% of the total body weights of the animals, respectively. However, green sea urchins were smaller and on average the weight of their shells (tests) was 21.3 ± 4.4 g as compared with 40.6 ± 10.4 g for red sea urchins.

Chemical compositions of the shells of sea urchins are given in Table 1. The major component of the shells of

Conclusion

In summary, the results of the present investigation demonstrate that naphthoquinone pigments are important components of both green and red sea urchin shells. The shells contained small amounts of proteins and their inedible parts contained minerals.

Acknowledgements

This work was carried out at Memorial University of Newfoundland and was supported, in part, through a discovery grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada.

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