Comparative study on extractive components of fresh and boiled gonads of three species of sea urchins from the Gulf of Thailand

Proximate compositions and extractive components of the gonads (roes) of three species of sea urchins, namely, Diadema setosum, Salmacis sphaeroides and Toxopneustes pileolus, from the Gulf of Thailand were identified and the boiling effect on these extractive components of these sea urchin roes studied. Of the three species tested, the gonads of D. setosum had the lowest moisture (62 %) and ash (2 %) contents and the highest protein (15 %) and lipid (11 %) contents. Major extractive constituents of the roes of D. setosum were taurine, arginine, lysine, glycine, tyrosine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, alanine, glutamic acid and inosine 5′-monophosphate; those for the roes of S. sphaeroides were glycine, lysine, alanine, arginine, ATP and adenosine 5′-diphosphate; those for the roes of T. pileolus were glycine, alanine, serine, ATP and adenosine 5′-monophosphate, respectively. Boiling in 3 % brine (98–100 °C, 2 min) drastically reduced the amounts of both free amino acids and ATP-related compounds of sea urchins belonging to all these species.