Biochemical composition of selected seaweeds from intertidal shallow waters of Southern Red Sea, Eritrea

1153-1157Seaweeds are marine plants also known as sea vegetables, used as an alternative food source with high nutritional value. Consumption of seaweeds in East Asian countries like China, Thailand and Japan had begun since ancient times. In some countries, seaweeds are consumed as raw vegetables, in the form of salad and as an additive in manufacturing of various food products. The biochemical composition of seaweeds varies with environmental state of marine ecosystem. Eritrea, with long coastline bears diversified ecosystems and abundant seaweeds. But limited knowledge on nutritional importance and processing methods mitigate the dietary utilization of seaweeds by coastal community in the country. The present study focuses mainly on the analysis of biochemical composition of various seaweeds collected around the Massawa coast of Red Sea, Eritrea. The major biochemical components like proteins, carbohydrates, fats, fibre and ash were determined to establish the nutritional importance of the seaweeds. The high protein content was found in green seaweed Enteromorpha clathrata (13.64 %), whereas the brown seaweed Sargassum subrepandum has reported with high carbohydrates (28.11 %) and Cystoseira myrica has shown high fibre (32.39 %) content. The green seaweed Entermorpha compressa was found to be rich in fats (1.83 %), and high ash content (50.91 %) was recorded in brown seaweed Dictyota ciliolata.