Abstract
Micro-nutrient deficient diets leading to hidden hunger are a fact of everyday life for millions in India. Blood clams, Anadorra granosa, are abundantly available in the Vashi Creek, Maharashtra and are affordable sources of macro and micronutrients that fulfil the nutritional requirements of the local population. Anemia is widely prevalent in India and the percentage of women and children suffering from anemia has been rising in Maharashtra. Concerted efforts are needed for India to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 2 on Zero Hunger which calls for ending all forms of hunger by year 2030. Blood clams are an affordable resource that can provide consumers with significant amount of protein, fat and minerals. Nutritional profiling of this resource was carried out to for six months from September, 2023 to February 2024. Amino acid profiling revealed the presence of all essential amino acids except methionine, at levels higher than those recommended by FAO/WHO. Total essential amino acids were 35.49 g/100g as against the FAO/WHO recommended value of 29.6 g/100g. The atherogenicity index of blood clam fat was 0.84 and thrombogenecity index ranged from 0.14–0.87 which are within the normal reported range for fish/shellfish. n6: n3 PUFA ratio and n3: n6 PUFA ratios were 0.15 and 6.31 respectively. Foods with high n3: n6 PUFA ratio and a low n6: n3 PUFA ratio have known to be cardioprotective. Blood clams showed significant levels of macro-minerals; potassium (252 mg/100 g) showing the highest levels followed by calcium (234.3 mg/100 g), sodium (198.7 mg/100 g) and magnesium (128.4 mg/100 g) and trace elements like iron (1052 ppm), zinc (130 ppm), manganese (46 ppm), copper selenium, molybdenum, nickel and cobalt. Heavy metals detected were within the normal range as prescribed by various national and international regulatory agencies including FSSAI, USFDA, FAO, CODEX, EU and WHO.