Algae and Plants
15
sheet and is green colored with two
flagella. The latter stage develops into
a palmella stage (macrozooid) that is
green, spherical, and without flagella.
The astaxanthin content (5.7 mg/g DW)
of the cells makes them very useful as
a food additive (Burchardt et al., 2006;
Dragoş et al., 2010).
Nutritional Facts
Proximate Composition (DM)
Minimum Maximum Mean
Protein (%)
17.30
27.16
23.62
Carbohydrates
(%)
36.9
40.0
38.0
Fat (%)
7.14
21.22
13.80
Iron (%)
0.14
1.0
0.73
Moisture (%)
3.0
9.0
6.0
Ash (%)
11.07
24.47
17.71
Minerals
Minimum Maximum Mean
Magnesium (%)
0.85
1.4
1.14
Calcium (%)
0.93
3.3
1.58
Vitamins
Minimum Maximum Mean
Biotin
(mg/lb)
0.108
0.665
0.337
L-carnitine
(µg/g)
7.0
12.0
7.5
Folic acid
(mg/100 g)
0.936
1.48
1.30
Niacin
(mg/lb)
20.2
35.2
29.8
Pantothenic
acid (mg/lb)
2.80
10.57
6.14
Vitamin B1
(mg/lb)
<0.050
4.81
2.17
Vitamin B2
(mg/lb)
5.17
9.36
7.67
Vitamin B6
(mg/lb)
0.659
4.5
1.63
Vitamin B12
(mg/lb)
0.381
0.912
0.549
Vitamin C
(mg/lb)
6.42
82.7
38.86
Vitamin E
(IU/lb)
58.4
333
186.1
Amino Acids (% DM)
Minimum Maximum Mean
Tryptophan
0.05
0.56
0.31
Aspartic acid
1.37
2.31
1.89
Threonine
0.78
1.24
1.04
Serine
0.73
1.06
0.94
Glutamic acid
1.70
2.39
2.19
Proline
0.69
1.00
0.89
Glycine
0.84
1.32
1.17
Alanine
1.30
1.92
1.73
Cysteine
0.16
0.21
0.19
Valine
0.83
1.94
1.36
Methionine
0.32
0.43
0.40
Isoleucine
0.55
0.97
0.79
Leucine
1.21
1.84
1.67
Tyrosine
0.40
0.63
0.52
Phenylalanine
0.61
1.05
0.90
Histidine
0.48
0.76
0.61
Lysine
0.75
1.32
1.13
Arginine
0.81
1.34
1.07
Source: Data from Lorenz (1999).
Lipids (% DM)
Total
Lipids
Neutral
Lipids Glycolipids Phospholipids
15.61
9.20
3.7
1.87
Fatty Acid Profile (% of total fatty acids)
SFA
MUFA
PUFA
27.81
20.07
45.80
SFA, saturated fatty acid; MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acid; PUFA, polyunsaturated
fatty acid.
Source: Data from Damiani et al. (2010).