BIOCHEMICAL AND MICROBIAL ANALYSIS OF SEAWEEDS AND THEIR VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS

Abstract

Despite a paucity of public data, seaweed output in Bangladesh is expanding rapidly day by day. Three raw seaweed species (green seaweed Enteromorpha sp., red seaweed Gracilaria sp., and green seaweed Ulva sp.) were collected from the nature and dry seaweeds were purchased from a market in Nuniarchora, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. The samples were used to determine the proximate composition of the seaweeds as well as the presence of pathogenic bacteria and heavy metals. To create value-added items like biscuits and muffins, collected samples were cleaned with saltwater, dried in an oven, crushed in a grinder, and stored in a zip-lock bag at room temperature (25 ± 2°C). The samples' proximate composition was determined under wet, lab-dried, and market-dried conditions. Gracilaria sp. had the highest crude protein content 3.48% in wet basis and (14.60-20.90%) in dry basis, followed by Ulva sp. 2.78% wet wt. while (10.80-13.92%) dry basis and Enteromorpha sp. contains lowest in both wet (1.64%) and dry basis (10.43-11.78%). Gracilaria sp. had the maximum crude fiber content (2.98-16.67%) d wt., followed by Ulva sp. (3.77-6.31%) d wt., and Enteromorpha sp. (2.96-5.66%) d wt. based. The lowest levels of crude lipid were observed in