Minerals, PUFAs and antioxidant properties of some tropical seaweeds from Saurashtra coast of India

Twenty-two tropical seaweeds from the Rhodophyta, Phaeophyta and Chlorophyta were examined for their possible use as nutritional supplements. All seaweeds contained balanced Na/K and C/N ratio and high amounts of macroelements (Na, K, Ca, and Mg) as compared to the terrestrial vegetables. Among the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied phycology 2011-10, Vol.23 (5), p.797-810
Main Authors: Kumar, Manoj, Kumari, Puja, Trivedi, Nitin, Shukla, Mahendra K, Gupta, Vishal, Reddy, C. R. K, Jha, Bhavanath
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
antioxidant activity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Chlorophycota
Chlorophyta
dairy products
dietary recommendations
dietary supplements
Ecology
free radical scavengers
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
functional foods
iron
Life Sciences
macroalgae
manganese
minerals
Phaeophycophyta
Phaeophyta
Plant Physiology
Plant Sciences
polyunsaturated fatty acids
potassium
principal component analysis
Rhodophyta
sodium
vegetables
World Health Organization
zinc
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Summary:Twenty-two tropical seaweeds from the Rhodophyta, Phaeophyta and Chlorophyta were examined for their possible use as nutritional supplements. All seaweeds contained balanced Na/K and C/N ratio and high amounts of macroelements (Na, K, Ca, and Mg) as compared to the terrestrial vegetables. Among the microelements, Fe was the highest followed by Zn, Mn, Cu and other trace elements. Fatty acid distribution showed high level of n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and their ratios were within the WHO prescribed limits. The higher ratios of PUFA/SFA (>0.4) are in agreement with the recommendations of nutritional guidelines. Most of the species, especially the Chlorophyta and Phaeophyta, had permissible intake values of unsaturation, atherogenic and thrombogenic indexes comparable to milk-based products. Principal component analysis demonstrated a correlation between total phenolic content, total antioxidant activity, DPPH, and O 2 •− radical scavenging activity, suggesting polyphenols as the chief contributor to the antioxidant activity in seaweeds. These results indicate that these seaweeds could be a potential source of natural antioxidants, minerals and high-quality PUFAs and may be efficiently used as ingredients in functional foods.
ISSN:0921-8971
1573-5176
DOI:10.1007/s10811-010-9578-7