1. Introduction
The health benefits of consuming seaweeds have been reported for
over three thousand years, primarily from Asia, where marine algae
are prized for their nutritional and health benefits. Seaweeds provide
essential minerals, vitamins, dietary fibres, and antioxidants and are
considered a potential caloric source for future global food requirements
[24,28,34]. Consideration of Sargassum as a future food staple,
biochemical and nutritional levels must be determined as a function of
environmental parameters and harvest conditions. Sargassumbiochemical
and nutritional contents exhibit significant differences as a function
of seasonality and vegetative parts. India, with its vast coastline, has
developed several focused areas for seaweed commercialization.
Mandapam and adjacent areas of Tamil Nadu, southeastern coast of
India are an industrial hub for seaweed cultivation, harvesting, and processing
and the subject area of this study.