Cooked commercial prawns (mean weight=34.9 g [range 22 to 51 g],n=61) graded for colour by the subjective assessment described in Section 2.5 were used to determine the total astaxanthin
content and body distribution in prawns of different grade scores (see Figs. 2 and 3 ). On arrival at the laboratory the frozen prawns were thawed and in this case, assessed for grade score using a panel of 3 members to reach a consensus on each prawn. Following that, the
prawns were arranged in order of grade score and the original assessment was confirmed.
Each prawn was then dissected into exoskeleton, epidermal layer, cephalothorax and digestive gland for extraction of astaxanthin.