Japanese scholars conducted an in-depth study on the nutritional composition of dried oysters as early as 1987 and compared it with other seafood. The results show that oyster meat is rich in many minerals and trace elements, including calcium content of 40-94.04mg/g, iron 5.50-8.00mg/g, selenium 49.00mg/g, zinc 22.54mg/g. The taurine content of oyster meat (dried) extract is 50.6mg/g, which is second only to that of thin-shelled clam, and much higher than that of arkshell. And it is much higher than other seafoods such as arkshell, clam, squid and sea cucumber.

Oysters

Dense-scaled oysters are characterized by rich content of taurine (50?mol/g), zinc and selenium; they are low in fat and cholesterol, and contain a certain amount of highly unsaturated fatty acids (EPA+DHA accounted for 20.4% of the total fat content), and inorganic salts and vitamins. Wu Chengye et al. analyzed the free amino acids and taurine in Pacific oyster, monk oyster and oyster from the river. All three oysters contained all eight essential amino acids, and the highest content was lysine, which is important for balancing the proportion of amino acids in the national diet. The contents of taurine in the three oysters were as high as 7.542, 4.388 and 3.591 mg/g, which were almost more than the sum of other free amino acids. Meanwhile, the contents of free amino acids in oysters were found to vary with seasons.

Oyster meat contains a large amount of glycogen, which is the energy source for cell metabolism. Supplementation of glycogen can improve the function of the heart and blood circulation of the organism, and enhance the function of the liver and has a hepatoprotective effect. Glycogen in oyster can be directly absorbed and utilized by the body, which can reduce the burden on the pancreas, so it is very beneficial to diabetes.

The high content of taurine in oysters is valued by nutritionists and clinical scholars. Taurine is a kind of sulfur-containing amino acid with various physiological activities. It has an important physiological role in the normal development of retina and central nervous system of infants.