Biochemical Composition of Six Seahorse Species, Hippocampus sp., from the Chinese Coast

The biochemical composition of six seahorse species from the Chinese coast was analyzed in this study. The crude protein content (% dry weight) of Hippocampus kuda, Hippocampus trimaculatus, Hippocampus kelloggi, Hippocampus spinosissimus, Hippocampus histrix, and Hippocampus comes was 70.70 ± 2.12%, 77.59 ± 1.06%, 78.31 ± 1.74%, 71.15 ± 1.32%, 68.07 ± 1.96%, and 76.59 ± 3.25%, respectively. The major amino acids (>5% of the total) in seahorses were arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, alanine, and glycine, and there were significant differences in essential amino acids (EAA) (as % of total protein) among the six species (P < 0.05). The scores of EAA were balanced in the seahorse species, and the essential amino acid indexes of the six species were 41.63, 40.89, 44.84, 39.60, 39.31 and 45.45, respectively. The content of flavor‐enhancing amino acids of the six seahorse species was generally high, ranging from 28.16 ± 1.12% in H. histrix to 32.90 ± 2.17% in H. kelloggi (P < 0.05). The total lipid content was generally low, ranging from 0.96 ± 0.08% in H. histrix to 2.02 ± 0.24% in H. comes. The most abundant fatty acid was C16:0, ranging from 15.04 ± 0.67% in H. trimaculatus to 31.04 ± 4.32% in H. spinosissimus. The combination of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid as the fraction of the total fatty acids was high (0.14–0.35). The polyunsaturated fatty acid/saturated fatty acid ratio ranged from 0.40 in H. kuda to 1.19 in H. histrix. The trace metal concentrations in the seahorses were generally low. The six seahorse species examined provide a food source for humans with low fat, high protein, good levels of EAA, and high beneficial trace elements. These results are valuable in developing diets for culturing seahorse species.