Study of mineral and nutritional composition of some seaweeds found along the coast of Gulf of Mannar, India

The presence of Algae on the Earth is ubiquitous. The industry that widely uses algae is food industry, where the algae are used as a food supplement and also as an addition to the nutrient rich food. This study emphasizes on the mineral and nutritional composition of the selected fourteen algal species which are abundantly found along the coast of the Gulf of Mannar. The selected species of algae belong to different algal families such as Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta. The amount of minerals such as Ca, Zn, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, and Cu were estimated by employing the method of acid digestion followed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. We estimated the nutritional content based on the assessment of total protein, carbohydrate, phenol, ash and moisture contents of the algal species. The results based on the analysis of the mineral content in the algal seaweeds depicted that the seaweeds comprised of high amount of the macro minerals and trace minerals. Estimation of nutritional composition revealed that these algal species are rich in protein and carbohydrate. The ash contents were found to be very high in Jania rubens (86.66%), Padina boergesenii (85%) and Valoniopsis pachynema (84%). Based on the present study we infer that the algal seaweeds contained high amount of the nutritional compounds, which might pave the way for a higher standard of nutritional supply to the humans in the future