Phospholipids and amino-acid composition of eggs of sea urchin from Barents Sea

Green sea urchins Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis (Müller) are major indweller in the shallow waters of Barents Sea. In continuation of our studies on sea urchin [1], phospholipids and amino acid composition of eggs were analyzed. Sea urchin was harvested by divers in Barents Sea close to Murmansk (Russia). The eggs were extracted with chloroform/methanol (2/0.5 v/v) and with 95% EtOH, concentrated in vacuo and lyophilized. Phospholipids were separated by HPLC with evaporative light scattering detection after separation on a Waters Spherisorb® 5µm Silica 4.6×150mm column. Amino acids were analyzed by GC-MS after separation on an Rxi®-5MS capillary column (15m; 0.25mm ID). The main phospholipids were phosphatidylcholine followed with phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylinositol. The protein content was 39.7%. Higher amounts of glycine (11.6%), alanine (7.8%), leucine (3.3%), and valine (3.0%) were found in sea urchin eggs. Other amino acids such as methionine, isoleucine, lysine, serine, threonine, phenylalanine, proline, histidine, tyrosine, and tryptophan were also identified. The ratio of essential to non-essential amino acids was found to be 0.75. Sea urchin eggs are a reach source of phospholipids and amino acids. References: 1. Shikov et al. (2011) Planta Med., 77, 1357–1358.