Abstract

SIERRA-VELEZ, Liliana  and  ALVAREZ-LEON, Ricardo. BROMATOLOGICAL COMPARISON OF NATIVE (GRACILARIOPSIS TENUIFRONS, SARGASSUM FILIPENDULA) AND EXOTIC ALGAE (KAPPAPHYCUS ALVAREZII) OF THE COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN SEA. Bol. Cient. Mus. Hist. Nat. Univ. Caldas [online]. 2009, vol.13, n.2, pp.17-25. ISSN 0123-3068.

This study presents the bromatological evaluation of two species of native (Gracilariopsis tenuifrons and Sargassum filipendula) and exotic (Kappaphycus alvarezii) algae from algal cultures in La Guajira, located on the Colombian Caribbean coast. From the results obtained, it was concluded that K. alvarezii is an important source of potassium, sodium and phosphorus, and S. filipendula is a source of fiber, calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and potassium; emphasizing that the first significantly contributes potassium, while the second contributes fiber and calcium. The analysis shows the richness in minerals of the three algae, in K. alvarezii the potassium content is dominant; while in S. filipendula the calcium content predominates; and G. tenuifrons is rich in iron. The amount of crude protein in G. tenuifrons is almost seven times more than that found in K. alvarezii, and twice that of S. filipendula.. The estimated values of crude protein in S. filipendula are within the ranges found in the scientific literature. In the case of iron, concentrations found in G. tenuifrons and S. filipendula are well above the amounts provided by other energetic food. Similarly, the fiber contained in S. filipendula is very high, since most of the structural and reserve polysaccharides, common in brown algae, such as alginates, cellulose and furans can be considered as fibrous compounds. Similar consideration can be made regarding the concentration of fiber in G. tenuifrons, since it contains over 80%. As for total fat, phosphorus and zinc contents in the three species are similar. Regarding proteins, the high concentration found in G. tenuifrons, over the other two species is evident. Finally, the absence of copper and manganese in G. tenuifrons and K. alvarezii is notorious, whereas S. filipendula is particularly high in manganese.

Keywords : marine algae; Gracilariopsis tenuifrons; Kappaphycus alvarezii; Sargassum filipendula; Caribbean Coast; Colombia.

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