Fatty Acid Profile and Proximate Composition of Gonads from Wild Echinometra vanbrunti during an Annual Cycle: Suitability for Human Consumption

Abstract

ABSTRACT Human consumption of sea urchin gonads has led to overexploitation of commercial species, and the search for new marketable species to promote the recovery of exploited populations. Echinometra vanbrunti is a promising candidate for commercial exploitation. Its annual reproductive cycle has an effect on the proximate composition of the gonads; if they were to be consumed, the best quality in biochemical composition was determined to be from December to May, when nutritive phagocytes uphold the highest contents of protein and lipid. They possess considerable levels of omega-3 essential fatty acids, predominantly eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids, quite important for human nutrition. A subtle trend of higher DHA levels during the growing, premature, and mature gonadal stages of females and males was observed, though it is strongly influenced by diet and environment. A program to protect and regulate the sustainable extraction needs to be put in place before commercial exploitation.