Functional and nutritional value of the Chilean seaweeds Codium fragile, Gracilaria chilensis and Macrocystis pyrifera

Abstract

The nutritional composition of the edible seaweeds Codium fragile, Gracilaria chilensis and Macrocystis pyrifera was determined, including amino acid and fatty acid contents along with tocol and carotenoid contents. The results indicated that the three algae C. fragile, G. chilensis and M. pyrifera showed a high range of protein contents (13.7–10.8%), amino acid contents (1879.6–1417.7 mg/100 g dry algae) and a low content in lipids (0.7–15.0%). The most abundant fatty acids in C. fragile and G. chilensis were linolenic, oleic, and linoleic acid. d-Tocopherol and a-tocopherol (677.8 and 453.5 mg/g lipid, respectively) were found in C. fragile, while in G. chilensis and M. pyrifera, g-tocotrienol and a-tocopherol (263.5 and 1327.7 mg/g lipid, respectively) were found. In addition, in C. fragile and G. chilensis b-carotene was the principal carotenoid found (197.9 and 113.7 mg/g dry algae, respectively) compared with M. pyrifera (17.4 mg/g dry algae). The composition of macronutrients (minerals, carbohydrate-type dietetic fiber, proteins; low in lipids) and micronutrients (essential amino acids, PUFA of balanced n-6/n-3 proportion, b-carotene and a-tocopherol as source of vitamins A and E), corroborate the nutritional and biological potential of the studied algae, which constitute useful raw materials for the development of diets or ingredients for human and animal nutrition.This study was funded by Dirección de Investigación y Desarrollo DID, Universidad de Chile under Project DID SAL 02/14-2

Seasonal Variability of the Biochemical Composition and Antioxidant Properties of Fucus spiralis at Two Azorean Islands

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The effect of macroalgal, formulated and combination diets on growth, survival and feed utilisation in the red abalone Haliotis rufescens

“…The protein content range of macroalgae (10-15%) was based on the results of proximate analyses conducted on the same macroalgal species collected from localities along the Pacific coastline stretching from Southern Chile to Baja, California (Chavez, 2011;Demes et al, 2009;Duarte et al, 2014;Gómez and Westermeier, 1995;González et al, 2008;González et al, 2012;Ortiz et al, 2009;Rodríguez-Montesinos and Hernández-Carmona, 1991;Servierra-Zaragoza and Ponce-Diaz, 2002;Westermeier et al, 2012).…”

Chemical composition of farmed and micropropagated Kappaphycus alvarezii (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales), a commercially important seaweed in Malaysia

“…For total lipid determination, seaweed lipid was extracted according to Ortiz et al (2006Ortiz et al ( , 2009, while total protein was determined using the Kjeldhal method with a nitrogen conversion factor of 6.25 (AOAC International 2000).…”