Vietnamese brown seaweed

Brown seaweed, Sargassum sp., contains many valuable bioactive compounds such as carotenoid, polyphenol and unsaturated fatty acids, the omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, which are lipid-soluble substances. Those bioactive compounds are not only the important nutrients for human diet but also the functional compounds for preventing diseases. However, the extraction of lipid from seaweeds are difficult due to the complex structure of seaweed's cell wall. Hence, this study focused on the enzyme-assisted extraction of low polarization substances of lipid and lipid-soluble compounds. The results showed that the highest extraction yield from dried brown seaweed had been obtained with powder size of 0.50 mm by using enzyme concentration of 1.5% at 50 ± 2 C for 6 hours. The extract contains total unsaturated fatty acids about 32.99%, especially, arachidonic acid is 8.94%. This lipid extract is a potential promising source for food and pharmaceutical applications.