The mysis mystery

[Mihai]

I have some basic questions regarding the nutritional value of mysis
in particular and of frozen foods in general.

Yesterday I just ran out of the frozen mysis pack from Piscine Energetics.
So I ran to the LFS to get another pack. They were out of the
frozen pack but they assured me that the cubes from San Francisco Bay
Brand are just as good, just a different package.

After I went home and defrosted one cube it seemed to have a
completely different consistency - much more watery than the frozen
pack; so I looked at the back to see how much water they contain. I
almost fell and hurt my head when I saw:

the pack from Piscine Energetics says 69.5% protein, while
San Francisco Bay Brand cubes says 3.7% protein, i.e., more than 18 times
less protein than the frozen pack.

On top of this, the weight of the SFBB is less than half than that of
PE, while the price was almost the same ($8 for SFBB vs $10 PE).

After that I checked several other frozen fish foods and none had more
than 7% protein (most of them being 4-5%). This makes me think that
the PE pack overestimates the protein - they say "Analysis (From dry
weight)".

Do you know what that means? I'm pretty sure that there is at least
some moisture in the PE pack (although maybe not as much in
SFBB)...

Is the difference in quality between the two foods as much as 18
times, or is there a different measurement method?

Thanks,
Mihai

 

[danmhippo]

IMO, PE actually do pack drier than most of other brands. I still prefer PE mysis more than any other brands. I also felt PE mysis seems to contain more fat than other brands. The last one is just my observation with no scientific backup.

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe they put the decimal point in the wrong spot. It probably should be 6.95%.

 

[Mihai]

I don't think so: look at the fat content. It's also an order of magnitude difference there as well...

M.

 

[Mihai]

Same for the fiber.
M.

 

[bgoode]

The SFBB analysis includes moisture, which leads me to believe that they used the wet weight for their analysis, while PE specifies that they used the dry weight. The reason for the difference in magnitude would be the added water.

 

[HClH2OFish]

There was an article in the 1st or 2nd issue of Coral magazine in regards to certain 'frozen cubed foods'
Notice that with the SF brand what the moisture content is? Figure that's 98% of each cube..not alot left over for food, eh?
I've been having better luck finding foods that are frozen in a gel base. More foodstuff for the fishies

 

[wade1]

I would say its real... I noticed the same when feeding my seahorses. Its due to the lack of water in the packing (almost entirely). The weight differential is that much more extreme when you think of the difference in fat vs water weights...!

And yes, they are really that much more laden with useful nutrients. Thats why they do work for seahorses with their uber-short digestive tracts.

 

[HClH2OFish]

Time to google nutritional info on frozen seafoods...

 

[Anonymous]

Could also be the species and/or age of the shrimp when they're harvested. PE mysis look like larger individuals, might have had more time to put some meet in their shells.

 

[Anonymous]

One word: DRY. You body maybe 80% water, but you are probably 60% protein if you are totally dried.

 

[Mihai]

One word: DRY. You body maybe 80% water, but you are probably 60% protein if you are totally dried.

However, the PE mysis are quite dry...
I wonder how much water is there...
M.

 

[Anonymous]

My wife complaints about dry skin all the time, but I still think she is at least 80% water.

Easy way to find the water content of the mysis is to dry freeze it. I bet a that whole 8oz bag will not be any more than an oz after that.

 

[Simms142]

The way i am seeing things is 92% mousture leaves 8% of that weight if dried. Take that 3.7/8, it gives you around 50% protien, dried, about 6% fat...

 

[Mihai]

You may be right... in that case it's all equal, and
about the same as all other foods (including brine shrimp that everybody says that sucks nutritionally).

M.

 

[wade1]

The main hitch with brine shrimp is the ratio of indigestible chitin to digestable components. That, and if they are not heavily fed, they very quickly lose nutritional value (most pre-packaged types are gut loaded on phyto/vitamins). Young clownfish have even been known to get torn stomach linings from attempting to eat large brine before they age and grow enough....

Wade