Abstract:To make full use of shrimp head waste, the protein, amino acid, phospholipid, astaxanthin, and chitin contents were determined from the fresh heads of four shrimp species, and the quality of the different shrimp heads was compared and evaluated. These shrimp heads came from four common species in the Shandong Province: Procambarus clarkia, Penaeus japonicas, Penaeus orientalis, and Penaeus vanmamei. The results showed that the weight ratio of the head waste to the whole shrimp weight for the three penaeids reached approximately 40%. The highest weight ratio (85.52%) was observed for P. clarkia. All shrimp heads were rich in protein, ranging from 12.47%~14.91% of the fresh shrimp head weight. The essential amino acid contents in the shrimp head proteins of the four species reached more than 40%, and the umami and sweet amino acid contents were also high. Therefore, the shrimp heads of these four species are suitable for the development and utilization of protein hydrolysate/peptide amino acids. The phospholipid contents were 12.38~15.00 mg/g for the three penaeid species heads, and only 3.39 mg/g for the P. clarkia heads. The relatively higher astaxanthin content was 68.46 μg/g for P. vanmamei and 61.62 μg/g for P. japonicas, followed by 41.42 μg/g for P. orientalis and 30.71 μg/g for P. clarkia, respectively. Therefore, the penaeid heads can be used as a raw material for extracting phospholipids and astaxanthin. However, the chitin content in the head of P. clarkia was about 3-fold more that of the three penaeid species, reaching about 4.67%, making it suitable for the preparation of chitin-related products. Findings of this study show that the by-products of the shrimp heads of these four species are rich in protein and amino acids, while the phospholipid, astaxanthin, and chitin contents varied significantly in the shrimp heads. Therefore, high value-added bioactive components can be developed from the shrimp heads of different species and may have a wide range of application.
