Biochemical assessment in the edible parts of Tridacna maxima Röding, 1798 collected from the Egyptian Red Sea

The study assesses biochemical compositions in fresh and cooked flesh of Tridacna maxima. Carbohydrates formed the highest percentage (12.22 ± 2.0%) in cooked mantle, while protein recorded a very high ratio in the adductor muscles (72.14 ± 2.75% and 69.3 ± 0.83%) of both fresh and cooked flesh, respectively. Glycine formed the highest percentage of amino acids (24.44%) in fresh mantle. Hexadecanoic formed the highest percentage of fatty acids in mantle, in the adductor muscle of fresh and cooked samples (27.89%, 28.65%, 22.48%, and 21.68%), respectively. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) recorded higher values than saturated acids (SFAs) and unsaturated acids (MUFAs) in fresh and cooked samples. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) recorded the highest PUFAs value (18:3n-3) with recordings of 17.38%, 17.95%, 18.35% and 19.85% in mantle and adductor muscles of fresh and cooked samples, respectively. The PUFAs recorded the highest values (50.83% and 52.25%) in the cooked mantle and adductor muscles, respectively. ω-3 PUFA recorded relatively higher values represented by EPA20:5(n-3), DPA22:5(n-3) and DHA22:6(n-3). This study concluded that T. maxima is considered a good source of nutrition as it is rich in protein and important amino and fatty acids. There weren't any significant differences in SFA, MUFA and PUFA between the fresh and cooked flesh.