Abstract:The June-caught crab is traditionally known as Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) caught for sailing in the Lunar June, which displays high nutritional quality in hepatopancreas tissues during its fast growth period. In this study, the nutritional quality in hepatopancreas tissues was analyzed and compared between the June-caught crab and adult crab in the same rearing conditions in 2020. The results showed that there was no significant difference in condition factor between them, but the June-caught crab was higher (P<0.01) in hepatopancreas index than adult crab. The moisture and ash contents were higher (P<0.01), while total lipid contents was lower (P<0.01) in the June-caught crab than those in the adult crab. Except for alanine (Ala) was lower in the June-caught male crab (P<0.01) than those in the male and female crabs, the other 16 amino acids and crude protein contents were all no significant differences among them. The top four kinds of amino acids (C18:1n9c, C18:2n6c, C16:0 and C16:1) accounted for 72.13% amount of fatty acid composition in the June-caught crab and 69.02% in the adult crab. The amount of saturated fatty acids (ΣSFA) was lower (P<0.05), but the amount of monounsaturated fatty acids (ΣMUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (ΣPUFA) was higher (P<0.05) in the June-caught crab compared to the adult crab. Meanwhile, the amount of Σn-6 PUFA in the June-caught crab was higher (P<0.01) compared with the adult crab, but the amount of Σn-6 PUFA was no significant difference between them, resulting in the ratio of Σn-6 /Σn-3 PUFA was relatively lower in the June-caught crab (1.42~1.44) than the adult crab (0.85~0.92). Furthermore, there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in all the nutritional quality indexes between the male and female June-caught crabs. Briefly, the June-caught crab showed high nutritional values, and higher nutritional quality in hepatopancreas tissue than the adult crab, indicating its potential development of aquaculture industry in Chinese mitten crab.