Fatty Acids Profiles of Red Seaweed, Gracilaria Manilaensis

Seaweed was known to have good fatty acids content. Fatty acids are the densest dietary source of energy and play an important role in our diet. Thus, this research was carried out to determine the fatty acids (FAs) composition of edible red seaweed, Gracilaria manilaensis. The lipid content was extracted using petroleum ether. Fatty acids were converted to methyl esters by trans methylation of lipid sample by sodium meth oxide before determined by GC-FID. The finding showed that, G. manilaensis consist 35 of FAs. The saturated fatty acids (SFAs) of G. manilaensis accounted for 25.47% of total FAs, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) for 35.70%
and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for 42.18%. The analysis data reveal that G. manilaensis contained approximately 92% of total FAs as long-chain fatty acids (C15-C24). The noteworthy proportion of omega-9 isomers is unique characteristic of G. manilaensis. Furthermore, G. manilaensis contained almost all of the most important essential fatty acids (EFAs) like linoleic acid (LA, C18:2ω6), arachidonoic acid (AA, C20:4ω6), α-linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3ω3), eicosapentanoic acid (EPA, C20:5ω3) and docosahexanenoic acid (DHA, C22:6ω3). Dihomogamma linolenic acid (DGLA, C20:3ω6, 22.86%) was found to be the most abundant fatty acid in G. manilaensis. The ratio of omega-6/omega-3 is 2.70, not exceed the recommended values in the diet by the WHO (< 10).