Abstract

Objective: To study ecological parameters and biochemical composition of brown seaweed, Turbinaria ornata (T. ornata) collected from Hurghada shores, Red Sea coast of Egypt during September, October and November, 2015. Methods: T. ornata and its associated seaweeds were collected, identified and their abundances were estimated. Water of collection site was analyzed physicochemically as well as qualitative and quantitative analyses of phytoplankton. T. ornata was analyzed for protein, total carbohydrate, lipids, alginic acid, agar, pigments, minerals and heavy metals. Results: The results showed that macroalgal species recorded along Hurghada shores belong to Phaeophyta, Rhodophyta and Chlorophyta. At collection site, the moderate temperature, slight alkaline pH, low turbidity, high dissolved oxygen and valuable nutrient content of saline water exerted the massive growth of T. ornata with maximum abundance (24%) during October. The phytoplankton community was quite diverse with a maximum numbers of taxa (104.2 × 108 cell/L) recorded during October. Analysis of T. ornata alga powder showed that high soluble carbohydrate (2.80 ± 0.10 mg/g dry/weight) and chlorophyll c (0.001 7 ± 0.000 1 mg/g fresh weight) contents were recorded during September; while high contents of protein (37.70 ± 0.60 mg/g dry weight), lipids (3.10 ± 0.06 mg/g dry weight), polysaccharides (agar and alginates), carotenoids (0.016 0 ± 0.000 4 mg/g fresh weight), minerals and heavy metals were recorded during November. Conclusions: The study revealed that physicochemical analyses of water were varied slightly during the three months and suitable for the growth of T. ornata. It contains high amount of most biochemical constituents during October.

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