Antioxidant Activity in Hard and Soft Shell Crabs of Charybdis lucifera(Fabricius, 1798)

The crab fishery in India is fast developing and there is a vast scope for the crab meat due to its delicacy and nutritional richness. Studies on antioxidant activity of soft shell crabs are very much need of the hour to stop the wastage of soft shell crabs and also possible utilization. Hence, in this present investigation, antioxidant activity is studied in soft shelled crabs, which are compared with hard shell crabs of Charybdis lucifera. The soft shelled crabs showed maximum phenolic content of 48% which is tentatively higher than that of hard shelled. The total antioxidant potential of soft shelled crab exhibited maximum antioxidant potential of 49% and minimum effect of 32% was recorded in hard shelled crab. In the reducing power assay, the maximum reducing ability of 59% was noticed in soft shelled crab. The results suggest that soft shelled crabs of Charybdis lucifera show antioxidant property than hard shell crabs.