Abstract:
Background In recent years, the muscle nutritious quality and texture characteristics of large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea), which are mainly cultured in nearshore cages, have shown a downward trend. The deep-water cage can simulate the natural ecological environment, which helps to enhance the nutritional value of L. crocea.
Objective This study aims to systematically evaluate the comprehensive benefits of offshore deep-water cage culture system.
Methods In January 2025, thirty L. crocea with similar body mass from offshore deep-water cage-cultured, nearshore cage-cultured, and wild populations (10 ind for each culture system) were collected for the comparative analysis of differences in body morphology indices, muscle texture and nutritional quality, and serum antioxidant capacity.
Results In body morphology indices, the condition factor and muscle hardness of L. crocea cultured in offshore deep-water cages were similar to those of wild L. crocea, but significantly better than those of nearshore cage-cultured L. crocea(P<0.05). In terms of antioxidant capacity, the offshore deep-water cage-cultured L. crocea had significantly higher catalase activity (CAT) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) than nearshore cage-cultured L. crocea (P<0.05), and showed no significant differences from wild L. crocea (P>0.05). In terms of muscle composition, the crude lipid content of L. crocea cultured in offshore deep-water cages was significantly higher than that of wild L. crocea, but lower than that of nearshore cage-cultured L. crocea (P<0.05). However, there were no sigmficant differences in crude protein content between offshore deep-water cage-cultured group and the other two groups. In terms of fatty acid conposition, the content of C18:0 in muscle of L. crocea cultured in offshore deep-water cages was significantly lower than that of wild L. crocea (P<0.05), while the content of C16:1n-7 was significantly higher (P<0.05). Additionally, there were no significant differences in the contents of C20:5n-3 (EPA), C22:6n-3 (DHA), saturated fatty acids (∑SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (∑MUFA), and n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (∑n-6 PUFA, ∑n-3 PUFA) between offshore deep-water cage-cultured and wild L. crocea (P>0.05). Amino acid analysis revealed that the contents of Thr, Met, Leu, Val, Glu, Gly, Ala, Asp, and Ser in L. crocea cultured in offshore deep-water cages were comparable to that of wild L. crocea (P>0.05), while the contents of essential amino acids (EAA), flavor amino acids (FAA), and total amino acids (TAA) were significantly higher than that of nearshore cage-cultured L. crocea (P<0.05).
Conclusion In summary, the offshore deep-water cage culture system can significantly improve the body morphology indices, antioxidant capacity, muscle texture, fatty acid composition, and amino acid nutritional value of L. crocea, making their overall quality closer to wild L. crocea, indicating that this culture system has significant potential for the production of high-quality L. crocea. The findings of the study deliver both theoretical and practical support for enhancing the quality of L. crocea aquaculture and optimizing intensive farming techniques.