Composition of Seaweed

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The proximate composition, fatty acids, minerals and chlorophyll-a content of three groups of seaweed [Green (Ulva lactuca, Enthromorpha intestinalis); Brown (Sargassum illicifolium, Colpomenia sinuosa) and Red (Hypnea valentiea, and Gracilaria corticata)] collected from the Persian Gulf in Iran, for the first time, was investigated. Results showed that seaweeds were relatively high in carbohydrate [31.0% (H. valentiea)-59.0% (U. lactuca)] and ash [12.2% (U. lactuca)-29.9% (S. illicifolium)], but low in lipid [1.5% (C. sinuosa)-3.6% (U. lactuca)]. Moreover, the lipid content in the green algae was significantly higher than both in the red and brown algae (P<0.05). Similarly, the protein content of both red and green algae were significantly higher than the brown algae (P<0.05), and ranged from 18.3% (G. corticata) to 9.0% (C. sinuosa). Of twenty fatty acids identified; Palmitic acid (37.9-59.8%), oleic acid (3.5-28.6%), myristic acid (4.5-12.4%) and linolenic acid (0.3-8.4%) were the predominant fatty acids. Besides, the red and green algae had the highest proportion of SFAs, and brown and red algae had highest proportion of MUFAs and PUFAs respectively. The minerals composition were found in the sequence of K>Mg>Fe>Zn>Mn>Cu>Co.

Keywords: seaweed, proximate composition, fatty acids, minerals, Persian Gulf

1. Introduction

The use of seaweeds as a food source not only is very rare in Iran but extensive culture of seaweeds also has not started. Considering the great potential for the extensive culture of seaweeds along the coastal waters of the Persian Gulf, it seems that assay of biochemical composition of seaweeds is necessary to survey their potential use as food sources for animals and industrial applications. The predominan...

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... corticata (J. Agardh) J. Agardh and Hypnea valentiea (Turner) Montagne] were collected from the northern coast of the Persian Gulf in Iran for the analyses in the present study. Immediately after collection, the samples were preparatory cleaned and washed with seawater to remove sand, debris, epiphytes and other extraneous matter attached to the thalli and then transported to the laboratory. At the same time, in the laboratory the samples were sorted and then cleaned and thoroughly rinsed with distilled water several times to remove all unpleasant materials from the surface of the sample. Then, the samples were dried completely with freeze dryer (ZirBus, VaCo 5; GERMANY), and ground into a fine powder for 5 min using a coffee grinder and finally passed through a 0.5 mm sieve and stored in dark labeled glass jars in a refrigerator at 4 °C until biochemical analysis.

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