Australian seafood compositional profiles: A pilot study. Vitamin D and mercury content

• Compositional data are lacking for most of >400 Australian edible seafood species.
• A pilot study is reported of vitamin D and mercury in 21 Australian seafood including DNA speciation.
• Farmed finfish species had nutritionally significant levels of vitamin D.
• Data for other seafood are needed, notably for farmed vs. wild-catch finfish species.
• INFOODS guidelines are needed for large-scale compositional project management.

Given the scarcity of comprehensive nutritional data for Australia’s >400 commercially produced seafood species a pilot study was undertaken to collect and analyse 22 species of wild and aquaculture seafood in order to develop a model for future comprehensive surveys. The species analysed were: Atlantic salmon, Australian sardine, prawn (six species), barramundi, abalone (three species), blue sprat, burrowing blackfish, gummy shark, oyster (four species), ocean trout and yellowtail kingfish. The analyses undertaken in this pilot study were: moisture, protein, total fat, cholesterol, fatty acids, vitamin C, vitamins A and D, and 21 mineral elements (including total mercury and methyl mercury). The data reported here are for vitamin D and mercury only. Comprehensive data have already been published elsewhere. Issues identified that should be addressed prior to undertaking a more extensive and representative study of the remaining major edible commercial Australian seafood species include: choice of samples and nutrients for analysis, facilities for sample handling and storage, data management and scrutiny, and laboratory quality control.