Abstract

A nutritional evaluation was carried out on thirty-one macroalgal species collected from different locations on the southwest coast of India (identified during a survey, August 2018- July 2019). This was to determine total crude protein, total lipids, total soluble sugars, starch, total free amino acids, iodine content, and vitamin C content. It could be deciphered that the protein content varied from a maximum of 180.0±0.7 mg g-1 in the green alga Chaetomorpha linum to a minimum of 10.8±0.7 mg g-1 in the red alga Amphiroa fragilissima

The lipid content was recorded to be a maximum of 150.0±0.2 mg g-1 in the brown alga Padina tetrastromatica and a minimum of 8.0±0.4 mg g-1 in the calcareous red alga Cheilosporum spectabilis. The maximum free amino acid concentration was found to be 17.06±0.6 mg g-1 in the green alga Caulerpa sertularioides and a minimum of 1.6 ±0.1 mg g-1 in the green alga Chaetomorpha linum. The maximum value for Vitamin C content was found to be 11.0±0.4 mg 100g-1 in the green alga Caulerpa chemnitzea and a minimum of 1.4±0.1 mg g-1 in red alga Amphiro fragilissima. The maximum iodine content of 86.90±1.0 mg 100g-1 was recorded in the green alga Caulerpa peltata and a minimum of 19.1±0.3 100g-1 in the brown alga Sargassum tenerrimum. The overall observation shows that marine macroalgae are rich sources of Proteins, Carbohydrates, Amino acids, Vitamin C, and Iodine, hence can have great implications as source material in the preparation of food, food supplements, and nutraceuticals.