Gross chemical profile and calculation of nitrogen-to-protein conversion factors for nine species of fishes coastal water of Brazil.

The amino acid composition and contents of nitrogen, phosphorus, lipid, carbohydrate and protein were determined in muscles of Dactylopterus volitans, Genypterus brasiliensis, Mullus argentinae,Paralichthys patagonicus, Percophis brasiliensis, Pinguipes brasilianus, Rhizoprionodon lalandii, Rhizoprionodon porosus, and Urophycis cirrata. The samples showed low carbohydrate content (66% dry weight in all species). The percentage of total lipid varied widely among species, and M. argentinae showed the highest concentrations (16%). The percentage of nitrogen and phosphorus was high and similar among species , with overall average values of 13.3% and 1.2%, respectively. The amino acids composition was similar among the animals, with glutamic acid and lisine as the most abundant amino acid and histidine in low concentrations. Among species, the content of proteinaceous nitrogen was high, with an average of 96.8% of the to tal nitrogen. From data of total amino acid and total nitrogen, specific nitrogen-to-protein conversion fact ors were calculated for each species. The nitrogen-to-protein conversion factors ranged from 5.39 to 5.98, with an overall average of 5.71. These findings showed that the traditional conversion factor of 6.25 overestima tes the actual protein content and should be avoided