Nutritional value of the Chilean seaweeds Cryptonemia obovata and Rhodymenia corallina.

: Some nutritional components of the edible seaweeds Cryptonemia obovata and Rhodymenia corallina were determined. The amino acid content ranged from 1.0 +/- 0.3 to 4174.2 +/- 14.2 mg 100 g(-1) dry wt in C. obovata and between 0.9 +/- 0.3 and 2657.0 +/- 13.5 mg 100 g(-1) dry wt in R. corallina. The most abundant fatty acid in C. obovata was palmitic acid, reaching a value of 36.5 +/- 0.2%, while in Rhodymenia corallina the main fatty acid was oleic acid, reaching a value of 24.7 +/- 0.07%. Both seaweeds showed an important content of EPA (C20:5omega3). In C. obovata, alpha-tocopherol was the principal tocol (138.5 +/- 4.9 mg kg(-1) lipid), while in R. corallina, it was gamma-tocotrienol (850.3 +/- 9.4 mg kg(-1) lipid). Furthermore, beta-carotene was the main carotenoid pigment found in C. obovata.