Nutritional values of Sargassum sp., Ulva sp., and Padina sp. from South East Molluca Island waters

Seaweed is a food source that comes from the sea. Seaweed has many nutrients that are important for humans. Indonesia has many seaweed species, but only a few are used industrially. Most of them come from red seaweeds of the genera Gracilaria, Gelidium, and Eucheuma. This study aims to determine the nutritional value and amino acid content as the basis for determining the potential of brown and green seaweed as food ingredients. Three species of seaweed samples were taken from different locations in Southeast Molluca waters. The tested samples were Sargassum sp. and Padina sp., which are types of brown algae, and Ulva sp., which is a type of green algae. The parameters tested were the amino acid content and proximate content of each sample. The seaweed samples tested had a range of dietary fibre content, from 46.62 to 64.23%. The highest value of the dietary fibre was reached by Ulva sp. (64 23%). The protein content in this study ranged from 3.48% to 13.08%, with Sargassum sp. having the higher protein content. Carbohydrate content has a value range of 24.42 - 39.63%. Padina is a type of seaweed that has the highest carbohydrate content. Sargassum has a complete amino acid content than the other species. The amino acid content in Sargassum is histidine, lysine, tryptophan, methionine, threonine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, and valine. The conclusion from this research is that the three types of seaweed have the potential to be developed as a food source based on proximate analysis and amino acid content. Sargassum is the most potential seaweed for further development into food.