An Evaluation of the Nutritional Composition of Seaweeds as Potential Source of Food and Feed

Abstract

A systematic investigation was carried out to assess the nutritional composition of 18 different seaweeds belonging to Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta and Phaeophyta collected from Okha coast of Gujarat, India. The results showed that the carbohydrate content ranged from 0.50 ± 0.01 to 34.89 ± 0.02%, protein from 0.429 ± 0.7 to 20.2 ± 0.1%, lipid from 1.0 ± 0.05 to 4.8 ± 0.2% and ash content was in the range of 20 ± 0.2–50 ± 0.5%. Total free amino acid content was fluctuated between 3.36 ± 1.2 and 364.8 ± 8.67 mg/g dry weight basis. In the mineral composition, brown seaweeds contained high calcium and potassium values than the red and green seaweeds. Red seaweeds showed higher concentration of Na and Fe among three groups. Heavy metals were found to be below the detectable levels.

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