Remarkable Affect of Diets on Abalone Meat Nutrient Composition and Shell Pigmentation

Red and brown seaweeds are natural foods for Haliotis discus hannai, an abalone species with dark-brown shells that is also known as Ezo. This preliminary study investigated the effect of seaweed on the color and quality of the meat and shells of this abalone. Results showed that a formulated test diet and an established commercial feed individually resulted in lower growth rates and meat protein contents of abalone than a control seaweed (Palmaria mollis) diet. The two artificial diets also led to abalone with yellow or orange colored shells, which were different from the darkbrown shells of abalone fed the seaweed. However, the combination of feeding the seaweed with either of the artificial diets remarkably improved the growth performance, product composition and shell appearance.