Analysis and evaluation of mineral contents in different tissues of Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) with five shell colors

In order to assess the minerals values of five shell colors (black, purple, orange, golden and white) strains of Crassostrea gigas and one control population, the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer and visible near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy were used to determine the minerals (Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn and Se) in different organs (mantle, gill, adductor muscle, and gonad-visceral mass). Results indicated that the purple shell, orange shell and black shell strains showed a significantly higher Zn content than that of control population (P<0.05), while the purple shell color strain had significantly higher Cu content than the golden shell color strain and control population (P<0.05), but the golden shell color strain showed a significantly higher Mn content compared with the purple shell and black shell color strains in the mantle (P<0.05). The golden shell color strain showed significantly higher Mn in gill than the black shell color strain and control population (P<0.05), whereas there was no significant difference in other minerals (P>0.05). In addition, the orange shell and purple shell color strains had significantly higher Zn content than the control population in adductor muscle (P<0.05). When considering the minerals in gonad-visceral mass, the orange shell color strain showed significantly higher Zn and Mn contents than the control population (P<0.05), and had significantly higher Cu content than the golden shell color strain (P<0.05). Mineral contents displayed significant difference among the four tissues. The contents of minerals in adductor muscle were significantly lower than those in mantle, gill and gonad-visceral mass (P<0.05). These results indicated that minerals significantly changed in the process of selective breeding, providing useful information for developing shell color strains in future.