Amino acid composition of the whole body, flesh and exoskeleton of female common West African fresh water crab Sudananautes africanus africanus.

The amino acid composition of the whole body (edible parts), flesh and exoskeleton of the female common West African fresh water crab Sudananautes africanus africanus was determined on a dry weight basis. The total essential amino acids ranged from 349.8 mg/g to 387.3 mg/g crude protein or from 48.5% to 49.8% of the total amino acid. Both the total amino acid and the total essential amino acid showed no significant differences among the samples at P<0.05. The amino acid score showed that lysine ranged from 0.9 to 1.2, making it a good food fortifier. The predicted protein efficiency ratio was 2.6-3.4, showing that the quality of protein was high. The carbohydrate content was high (57.5-59.1 g/100 g) but the protein was lower (15.7-18.6 g/100 g). The low level of the crude fibre in the flesh will make it good to serve as a food complement.