Accumulation and depuration of okadaic acid esters in the European green crab (Carcinus maenas) during a feeding study

Soft shell crab is a seafood delicacy in many parts of the world. In Denmark, it has been investigated whether a commercial production of soft shell European green crabs (Carcinus maenas) would be feasible. In relation to this, a feeding study was performed to examine if occurrence of DSP toxins in the product could be a food safety problem. The crabs were fed with mussels containing DSP toxins (2500 μg total okadaic acid equivalents/kg) for 17 days and then fasted for 19 days. The content of total okadaic acid equivalents in the digestive organs was on average 27 times higher than the corresponding content in the body meat. The highest level of total okadaic acid equivalents measured was 12 μg/kg in body meat and 503 μg/kg in digestive organs. The results show that the content of DSP toxins in a commercial product of soft shell European green crab (without digestive organs) could be regarded as negligible.