Inorganic Constituents in Fresh and Processed Cannonball Jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris)

Cannonball jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris) from the Gulf of Mexico has been under investigation as a potential source to meet the market demand for jellyfish food in Asia. Traditionally, jellyfish are processed by curing fresh jellyfish with salt and alum, and then the cured jellyfish are desalted in water before consumption. Very little is known about the inorganic constituents of jellyfish. In this study fresh and desalted processed cannonball jellyfish were examined for 22 elements using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The desalted processed tissues had significantly higher Al concentrations (leg, 688 μg/g; umbrella, 271 μg/g) than fresh jellyfish (leg, 0.29 μg/g; umbrella,1.63 μg/g). Concentrations of macro elements, such as Ca, Mg, K, and Na, were high in fresh jellyfish and rather low in desalted processed tissue. The results should be useful in providing biological and nutritional information about fresh and processed jellyfish. Keywords: Jellyfish; ICP; mineral elements