THE COMPOSITION AND AMINO-ACID BALANCE OF ABALONE (HALIOTIS-RUBRA) TISSUE

The amino acid composition was determined in the whole body of 23 spec imens of abalone (Haliotis rubra) collected near Portland, Victoria, T he mean (and s.d.) weight of the shell and whole body of abalone were 63.5 (70.2) g and 107.8 (102.7) g, respectively. The mean crude protei n content of the whole body of abalone was 124 g kg(-1) and was greate r in heavier abalone. However, the proportion of individual amino acid s relative to others remained relatively stable among all sizes of aba lone, Comparison of the proportion of individual amino acids revealed that the levels of threonine, methionine and arginine relative to lysi ne were considerably greater in abalone than in tissue from terrestria l domestic animals.