Contributions to the nutrition of the American crocodile Crocodylus acutus (Cuvier, 1807) in captivity

• Published in: Latin american journal of aquatic research Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 15 - 19
• Main Authors: Hernandez, Pablo, Soria, Hector, Farnes, Olimpia, Hernandez, Helios, Garcia, Rafael, Casas, Gustavo, Montoya, Cynthia, Vega, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Valparaiso Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Escuela de Ciencias del Mar 01.03.2018; Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Facultad de Recursos Naturales. Escuela de Ciencias del Mar
• Subjects: Amino acids; Aquatic reptiles; Captivity; Crocodiles; Crocodylia; Crocodylidae; Crocodylus acutus; Crocodylus niloticus; Diet; Fish; FISHERIES; Fluorescence; Fluorescence in situ hybridization; Glutamic acid; High performance liquid chromatography; Histidine; HPLC; Ictalurus punctatus; Leucine; Liquid chromatography; Liver; Lysine; MARINE & FRESHWATER BIOLOGY; Marine animals; Marine fishes; Mathematical analysis; Methionine; Muscles; Nutrition; OCEANOGRAPHY; Proteins; Terrestrial environments; Threonine; Tryptophan; México; Mexico; crocodile; chemical score; diet; feeding; protein; amino acids
• ISSN: 0718-560X; 0718-560X
• DOI: 10.3856/vol46-issue1-fulltext-3

In this work we evaluated the essential amino acid profile of muscle Crocodylus acutus and calculated their chemical score of main proteins used in their diet in captivity. The separation and identification of amino acids was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a fluorescence detector. The calculation of chemical score was obtained by dividing the value of each essential amino acid between the same amino acid of the reference protein. The lowest value of the relationships is the chemical score. The amino acids present in greater quantities in the tail muscle are glutamic acid, lysine and leucine (16.96, 9.84 and 8.87 g amino acid per 100 g of protein, respectively), whereas histidine, methionine and tryptophan (2.99, 2.93 and 0.59 g amino acid per 100 g of protein) were the lowest. The chemical score obtained results showed that the proteins of animal origin, preferably marine fish and supplemented with terrestrial animals ingredients, including beef liver appear to be the most effective. The incorporation of plant proteins in diets for C. acutus does not appear as a viable alternative due to deficiencies in several essential amino acids such as methionine, lysine and threonine.