Biochemical composition of wild and cultured seahorses (Hippocampus kudaBleeker)

Abstract

The seahorse has been used for thousands of years as an important traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in China. Many species of wild seahorse have become endangered, but demand for them continues to grow rapidly. Therefore, it is urgent to cultivate seahorses to relieve the strain on natural populations and meet the market demand for this TCM. In this study, medicinal components of wild and cultured yellow seahorses (Hippocampus kuda Bleeker) were analysed and compared. Different parts of the body (cortex and bone), male and female specimens, and seahorses of different ages were analysed. Crude protein, crude fat, trace elements, calcium, amino acid, fatty acid, steroid and cholesterol content were measured. The results showed that moisture content accounted for 70% of wet weight and ash content increased with growth. Crude protein and fat contents were higher in cultured seahorses than in wild specimens, and the content of Zn in cultured seahorses (93.26 ± 10.44%) was significantly higher than that of same‐aged wild seahorses (74.20 ± 3.83%). Amino acid and fatty acid contents of cultured seahorses also were higher than those of wild seahorses. These findings show that cultured seahorses can also be used in TCMs and that 1‐year‐old cultured seahorses have the best properties.

Advances in the Global Distribution, Chemical Constituents, and Pharmacology of Hippocampus, a Traditional Marine Chinese Medicine

“…Lin et al (2008) found that the total amount of amino acids was as high as 50-60% (based on a comparison of their retention times with those of amino acid standards) in six species of Hippocampus, and eight types of essential amino acids accounted for 17-20% of the total amino acid content, which indicated that the Hippocampus is a high-quality protein source. The content of glycine was the highest (83.98 mg/g) among the 15 types of amino acids in Hippocampus kuda Bleeker and Hippocampus trimaculatus Leach (Sun et al, 2020). In addition, Hippocampus is also rich in glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine, and arginine (Lin et al, 2009).…”

“…The contents of essential amino acids and unsaturated fatty acids were much higher in cultured Hippocampus kuda Bleeker than in wild Hippocampus. In terms of mineral elements, Se, Fe, Cu, and Ca were much more abundant in wild Hippocampus (Sun et al, 2020). Lin et al (2009) showed that the contents of DHA and EPA in cultured Hippocampus trimaculatus Leach were nearly two times as high as those in wild Hippocampus, and the proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids in total fatty acids were 31.89 and 21.39%, respectively.…”

“…Whether there was a difference in medicinal value between males and females was not clear. At the age of 6 months, female Hippocampus had a slightly higher proportion of steroids and unsaturated fatty acids than males (Sun et al, 2020). The fatty acid extraction rate of male Hippocampus was slightly higher than that of females (Su and Xu, 2015b).…”

“…Cholesterol and cholest-4-en-3-one were the major ingredients in the total steroids (Chen, 2015). Sun et al (2020) reported that the average content of steroids in Hippocampus kuda Bleeker was 6.16 mg/g, and cholesterol accounted for 0.55 mg/g. The average ratios of cholest-4-en-3-one and cholest-3,6-dione in Hippocampus trimaculatus Leach, Hippocampus histrix Kaup, and Hippocampus japonicus Kaup were 0.0301 and 0.0096%, respectively (Zhang et al, 1998).…”

“…Omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids were consumed during embryonic development, which explained the difference in fatty acid contents between newborn Hippocampus and eggs (Faleiro and Narciso, 2010). Sun et al (2020) analyzed the ingredients of wild Hippocampus at the ages of 6 month, 1 year, and 2 years. It was obvious that crude protein content was higher in the ration of 1-year-old Hippocampus compared with the ration of 6-and 2-year-old.…”