Seaweed products on the Swedish market as a source of omega-3 fatty acids

Sammanfattning: To know if seaweed products on the Swedish markets could contribute to a better ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) nutritional status a selection of eight dried red and brown macroalgae were chosen for this study. The fat content was deter-mined in all the algae and the fatty acid composition was examined by gas chromatography. Overall the seaweeds displayed a low fat content with 0.24 and 3.28g/100g dry weight (DW). The red algae Porphyra yezoensis had the highest content of PUFAs with 58.7% and also the highest content of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) with 49.8%, while Undaria pinnatifida displayed the second highest levels with 44.4% PUFA and 13.3% EPA. Remaining seaweeds had a PUFA content ranging between 0.98 and 30.1% and an EPA content between 0.00 and 4.10%. Expressed in mg/g DW the EPA content for Porphyra yezoensis was 6.15 mg/g DW and Undaria pinnatifida 1.34 mg/g DW. Majority of the species studied had a beneficial ω6/ω3 ratio with 0.17 and 4.88. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was not detected in any of the samples. The richest source for EPA was Porphyra yezoensis. It could be a valuable source for ω3 PUFAs for to improve the ω3 status in humans.