Chemical composition and nutritional value of different seaweeds from the eastern coast of Libya
Abstract
In this study, six species of marine algae collected from the beaches of Sousse and El Hammamah were classified. The identified species were: Polysiphonia bradiaei, Laurencia obtusa, Rytiphloeay tinctoria, Cysroseira compressa, C. spinosa, and C. corniculata. P. brodiaei had the highest crude protein content (16.6%), followed by R. tinctoria (12.5%) and C. corniculata (12.4%). The studied algae were relatively poor in their crude fat content, with the percentages ranging between 0.27-1.5%. The two species, P.brodiaei and C.corniculata, were the highest in neutral soluble fiber (NDF) and hemicellulose, while the two species, C.spinosa tinctoria and R., were the lowest in NDF and ADF. The cellulose percentage in the species with the highest content (R.tinctoria, C.compressa and C.corniculata) ranged between 7.93-10.7%, compared to 3.49-6.07% in the other species with the lowest content. A significant increase in calcium content was observed in all samples, ranging from 711.5 to 4173.6 mg/100 g. Magnesium content ranged from 219 to 761 mg/100 g, while potassium, iron, and copper contents ranged from 6.19 to 50.98, 6.08 to 19.22, and 0.85 to 1.84 mg/100 g dry weight, respectively. The manganese and zinc contents of the seaweeds under study ranged from 0.24 to 1.27 and 1.14 to 10.60 mg/100 g, respectively. Lead and cadmium concentrations ranged from 0.22 to 0.33 and 0.01 to 0.03 mg/100 g, respectively. There were some differences in amino acid concentrations among the studied grass species. It was observed that P. brodiaei species had a high concentration of serine (10.52) and low concentrations of sulfur amino acids (1.49), valine (2.38) and lysine (4.92) compared to other species. C. spinosa species was characterized by its high content of tyrosine (13.12), proline (10.56) and serine (13.46) respectively, while the concentrations of lysine (2.0), threonine (1.57), valine (1.57), alanine (2.77), aspartic acid (5.4) and glycine (1.14 g/100 g protein) were low, respectively. It is worth noting that the limiting amino acids differed among the studied algal species, as valine was found to be the first limiting acid in the species L. obtusa, R. tinctoria, and C. compressa, while the sulfurous amino acids leucine and lysine represented the first limiting acid in the species P. brodiaei, C. corniculata, and C. spinosa, respectively.
Keywords:
Chemical composition, amino acids, brown algae, red algae, ADF, NDF
How to Cite
Salma M. Ali, Al-Nagi A. Idris, Mansourah S. Ali, & Fawzia S. Mohammed. (2025). Chemical composition and nutritional value of different seaweeds from the eastern coast of Libya . Bani Waleed University Journal of Humanities and Applied Sciences, 10(2), 303-317. https://doi.org/10.58916/jhas.v10i2.745
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