Semicarbazide (SEM) is a side-chain metabolite of the antibiotic drug nitrofurazone (NFZ) and is employed as a conclusive marker for the use of banned NFZ. Recent studies have shown that SEM in aquatic crustaceans can be derived natively or from other sources. The presence and distribution of endogenous SEM within aquatic crustaceans is examined in this paper, which finds that the SEM content varies amongst the muscle, shell, and viscera of various prawn and crab species within the range of 0.35-26.62 ng g(-1). The effects of heating and hypochlorite treatment on SEM levels were examined. The results indicate that thermal processing introduced a more significant impact, resulting in a maximum SEM value of 15.48 ng g(-1) in a sample of shell of Portunus trituberculatus crab, while SEM levels in muscle samples were not affected by the duration of heating. Though 6% active chlorine treatment led to SEM production ranging between 39.9 and 196.4 ng g(-1) in muscle samples from various crustaceans, SEM is unlikely to originate from hypochlorite or chlorine in practice where there are limits to actual chlorine in sanitation water and facilities. 5-Nitro-2-furaldehyde (NF) was proposed as a selective marker to differentiate between endogenous SEM and NFZ-derived SEM in seafood.
Keywords: Semicarbazine; crabs; heat; hypochlorite treatment; prawns.