Proximate Chemical Composition of Sea Grapes Caulerpa racemosa (J. Agardh, 1873) Collected from a Sub-Tropical Coast

Abstract

Background: Nutritional fact study has prime importance to make the species edible and commercially viable to the consumers. Proximate chemical composition and amino acid profile were investigated to understand the nutritional value and protein quality of an edible algae Caulerpa racemosa. Methods: Samples were collected randomly by hand from the intertidal zone of the subtropical coastal Island St. Martin's Island from February 2013 to May 2014. Samples were preserved using standard methods for chemical analysis. Proximate composition was determined using standard methods, Kjeldahl method for protein, Soxhlet method for crude lipid, H 2 SO 4 (0.3 N) and NaOH (0.5 N) for dietary fibre, muffle furnace method for moisture content, ion-exchange chromatography for amino acid and statistical package used for validating the data. Results: The result of the study reveals that C. racemosa contains higher amount of proteins (19.72±0.77%), crude lipid (7.65±1.19%) and fibre (11.51±1.32%) compared to other green and brown algae. The higher concentration of aspartic acid (12.7±0.2%) and glutamic acid (9.2±0.7%) were observed in C. racemosa, while histidine (2.6±0.7%), methionine (1.4±0.4%) and tyrosine (3.8±0.2%) were the limiting amino acids. Lysine (6.6±0.2%), leusine (6.9±0.6%), glycine (6.5±0.4%), arginine (6.4±0.3%), alanine (7.6±0.6%) and threonine (6.2±0.5%) were obtained at a higher percentage of total amino acids. Conclusion: This study suggests that C. racemosa could be potentially used as a nutritious and functional food item for human consumption. Further studies on this edible species should be focused on fatty acid composition, vitamins, non-starch polysaccharide constituents, trace elements and sensory perceptions in order to depict safer and versatile utilization. Keywords Caulerpa racemosa; Green seaweed; Proximate chemical composition [11]. In Bangladesh, total 137 species of seaweeds (e.g. green, brown and red algae) were recorded from the Saint Martin's Island, Chittagong coast, Cox's Bazar coast and Sundarban mangrove area, Khulna [13]. Among them, C. racemosa is very common edible green seaweeds and growing abundantly at St. Martin's Island [7]. Characteristically, C. racemosa (commonly known as sea grapes) is green algae, growing on the rocky or hard substratum of intertidal water [1,7].

An Analysis of the Nutritional and Health Values of Caulerpa racemosa (Forsskål) and Ulva fasciata (Delile)—Two Chlorophyta Collected from the Philippines

“…The biochemical composition of Caulerpa racemosa collected in the Philippines agrees with previous studies of Caulerpa species in the Indo-Pacific regions [5,40]. In our study, C. racemosa protein content (19.9 ± 0.5% of dry weight) is within the concentration range (0.6-20.8%) of the majority of edible Caulerpa [5].…”

Bioprospecting Cultivated Tropical Green Algae, Caulerpa racemosa (Forsskal) J. Agardh: A Perspective on Nutritional Properties, Antioxidative Capacity and Anti-Diabetic Potential

“…Seaweeds are highly perishable within days of harvesting, thus proper drying plays an important role in preserving their nutritional status. Moisture content in cultivated C. racemosa was 13.85 ± 0.93% in the range similar to a sub-tropical species at 15.37 ± 0.72% [ 41 ]. Moisture content of seafoods strongly affects their microbiological and chemical stability, physical properties, and is also used to determine their nutritional composition [ 42 ].…”

“…was lysine. However, Bhuiyan et al [ 41 ] observed that methionine was the most limiting AA found in C. racemosa . The ratio value of EAA/NEAA was 0.05, and these values indicate that content of EAAs was lower in concentrations than NEAAs.…”

Utilization of green algae Caulerpa racemosa as feed ingredient for tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon

“…Glycine and alanine amino acids are known as decent attractant for shrimp (Sudaryono et al, 1999). Soybean meal contents glycine and alanine as many of 1.69% and 2.02%, respectively (Song et al, 2008), compared with C. racemosa meal which contents glycine and alanine 1.28% dan 0.2%, respectively (Bhuiyan et al, 2016). The addition of C. racemosa meal up to 20%, led to lower percentage of soybean meal in the feed formulation (Table 2), thus the concentration of glycine and alanine decreased as well.…”