Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

Abstract

Variation in the Chemical Composition of Saccharina Japonica with Harvest Area and Culture Period

Jae-Ho Hwang, Nam-Gil Kim, Hee-Chul Woo, Sung-Ju Rha, Seon-Jae Kim and Tai-Sun Shin

Saccharina japonica is commercially important marine brown algae which grow as a single blade (reaching 10 meters in length) with a short stipe. In this study, the edible brown weed Sacchaina japonica was assessed for nutritional composition. Samples were collected monthly from seaweed farms at Kijang and Wando on the south coast of the Republic of Korea, during the 2011 culture season. S. japonica in Kijang and Wando showed the highest crude protein content in February and the highest carbohydrate content in July. Monthly changes in sugar, fatty acid, mineral, and total amino acid contents observed from February to July 2011. Fucose was the most abundant and galactose the second most abundant in the monosaccharide composition profiles, while mannose, glucose, xylose, ribose, and rhamnose were present in low quantities and lactose, mannitol, and arabinose were not detected. Significant increases of the major fatty acids in Kijang (C18:2 n-6 and C20:4 n-6) and Wando (C18:3 n-6) were observed as the culture period progressed. The highest mineral content of both Kijang and Wando samples is potassium and followed by sodium, calcium, magnesium, and so on. In the total amino acid contents, Kijang samples increased from February to April but decreased from May to July, while Wando samples increased on March but decreased from April to July.