UTILIZATION OF CRAYFISH IN SOME FISHERY PRODUCTS

Abstract

Freshwater crayfish has been considered as seafood for several years, especially in the state of Louisiana, USA. The total annual global harvest of fresh water crayfish is more than 110,000 tons, where USA produces 55% of this quantity, followed by China, which produces 36%. Industrial utilization of freshwater crayfish began in Louisiana where its meat is processed by boiling in water, then it is manually peeled and flesh parts are packaged and stored under cold conditions. Egypt has only two species of crayfish in the River Nile which they introduced in the early 1980's; Procambarus zonagulu and Procambarus clarkii where the latter is the most prevalent specie. This study aims to take advantage of crayfish found in River Nile, which does not have acceptance from the Egyptian consumers in the fresh state for manufacturing of certain fish products, which include (canned crayfish - crayfish burger). The study also aims to use the resulting waste in getting some vital compounds such as chitosan and carotenoids, which increases the quality of the product. The study was carried out through the following points 1. Studying the chemical composition of crayfish in comparison