Mineral availability, dietary fiber contents, and short-chain fatty acid fermentation products of Caulerpa lentillifera and Kappaphycus alvarezii seaweeds

Abstract

Seaweeds like Caulerpa lentillifera and Kappaphycus alvarezii are used as main ingredients in Filipino delicacies. There is a need to investigate the mineral availability, dietary fiber contents, and short-chain fatty acid fermentation products of these Philippine seaweeds to assess its nutritional and health benefits. Results show that C. lentillifera contain higher levels of iron, zinc, and calcium (430.93 ± 1.46, 1.09 ± 0.19, and 988.44 ± 5.07 mg/100g, respectively) compared with K. alvarezii (11.34 ± 0.14, 0.29 ± 0.01, and 262.98 ± 2.83 mg/100g, respectively). The availability of calcium was shown to be higher in both seaweeds (94.10 - 96.45 %Ca) than iron and zinc availabilities. Both samples exhibited high amounts of dietary fibers. The soluble, insoluble, and total dietary fiber contents of K. alvarezii (16.73 ± 0.03, 42.24 ± 1.04, and 58.97 ± 1.01 g/100g, respectively) were higher than that of C. lentillifera (3.50 ± 0.41 g/100g for soluble, 27.17 ± 0.09 g/100g for insoluble, 30.67 ± 0.32 g/100g for total dietary fiber). In vitro fermentation using human fecal inoculum afforded short chain fatty acids (SCFA). The SCFA content analysis using HPLC showed that K. alvarezii produced propionate (35.53 ± 2.00 g/100g) and butyrate (3.19 ± 0.16 g/100g) SCFAs while C. lentillifera only produced propionate (15.92 ± 0.45 g/100g) SCFA suggesting the potential of these seaweeds for the prevention of some diseases.