Effect of sample preparation with or without shell liquor on contents and retentions of macro and micro elements in three species of bivalve molluscs.

The macro and micro element contents of soft tissues from Tapes philippinarum, Callista chione, and Mytilus galloprovincialis, either with (CL) or without (SL) shell liquor, were investigated both at the raw and cooked state, to gain information on true (TR) and apparent (AR) retention factors of the mineral component of these bivalve molluscs. On a per-serving basis, SL molluscs were more significant sources of several minerals than their CL counterparts. TR proved to be a more reliable coefficient than AR in the estimation of nutrient composition of cooked molluscs based on data from the raw ones, probably due to the importance of the cooking yield for this kind of food