Seaweeds of South Andaman: diversity, distribution, biochemical characterization and fatty acid profiling of some selected species

ABSTRACT

The huge rise in seaweed-derived bioactive compounds demands immediate attention of under-explored seaweed species. The oceanic bio-resources in the tidal stretch of the Andaman Islands are relatively unknown. The present study explores seven intertidal regions of South Andaman Island to understand the species richness and existing seaweed biomass. Biochemical and fatty acid components were assessed for 15 seaweed species, commonly available in the study sites. A total of 67 species of seaweeds were collected during a one-year survey, most of which belonged to Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta and a few in Phaeophyta. The species richness was higher in sandy and coarse substrata, while highest species density was found on rocky shores. The P value for species richness at 5.05E-15 also validated the variation in seaweed distribution and diversity in the selected locations. The nutritional composition varied significantly among the species and was mostly characterized by higher levels of carbohydrate especially in Gracilaria spp. Carbohydrate content ranging from 3.52–48.22% accounted for most of the nutrient component. The overall protein ranged between 2.41–18.67%, whereas the total lipid varied from 2.16–11.90% and about 10% of total lipid content was available in most species. The significant outcome of this study was the detection of 6.34% EPA in Boergesenia forbesii and 2.40% of gamma linolenic acid in Acetabularia acetabulum which could be of significant importance in the food, bioenergy, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

KEYWORDS:

• Seaweed diversity
• density
• biochemical composition
• fatty acids
• South Andaman
• India

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support given by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, New Delhi to conduct the survey and research. The authors are thankful to Dr G.A. Ramadass, Director, National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai and former Director Dr M.A. Atmanand, NIOT for constant encouragement and providing the necessary facilities to perform this research. The authors also thank Dr Dilip Kumar Jha for helping us with study area mapping.

Availability of data and material (data transparency)

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or] its supplementary material.

Contribution of authors

R. Karuna Kumari, Conceptualization, methodology, collection, photography, identification, writing – Original draft preparation.

N. V. Vinithkumar, Supervision, methodology, collection, photography, identification, review and editing, validation.

Reena Singh, Collection and identification.

D. Mahesh Peter, Total lipid and fatty acid analysis.

G. Dharani, Reviewing and editing, fund acquisition.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), Government of India.