Chemical composition and physicochemical properties of red seaweeds (kappaphycus alvarezii, eucheuma spinosum and eucheuma striatum) from Sabah, Malaysia

Three tropical red seaweeds taken from Kunak, Sabah namely Kappaphycus alvarezii (KA), Eucheuma spinosum (ESp) and Eucheuma striatum (ESt) contains an important source of bioactive compounds for development of functional foods. The present study was aimed to investigate the nutrient and physicochemical properties of these red seaweeds. It was found that KA contained the highest level of protein and crude fibre with 3.72% and 12.5%, DW respectively. Nutrients content showed significant different among the 3 seaweed species, with value of 0.02-0.05% DW in lipid, ash (14.1-20.2% DW), energy (288-303 kcal) and carbohydrate (70.2-71.8% DW) (p<.05). Comparing the element contents of these species, KA was rich in K, Mn, Fe and Cu, while ESp was rich in Mg, Ca, Na and Zn. As for the physicochemical properties of the seaweeds, their swelling capacity (SWC), water retention capacity (WRC), and oil retention capacity (ORC) ranged from 20.6 to 34.1 ml/g DW, 8.4 to 13.4 g/g DW and 2.3 to 3.0 g/g DW, respectively. SWC and ORC of KA was higher than those of ESp and ESt (p<0.05). This study suggested that KA showed high nutritional value could be potentially used as ingredients in human food application.