2. Material andmethods
2.1. Sample collection
S. wightii was collected from Mandapam, Tamil Nadu (9°17′ N and
79°11′ E) in January, March, May, July, September, and November
2009 and 2010. In the present study, 2–3 plants were collected every
20 m from the 500 metre study area. Thalli ranged from 15 to 50 cm
long and 5 to 15 g dw. After collection, samples were washed in seawater
several times removing debris and epiphytes and then solar dried.
The sun dried material was brought to the laboratory and thoroughly
washed to remove salt and sand particles. Vegetative parts were dissected
into main axe, young blade (length b 2 cm) and old blade
(length N 2 cm) groupings. Samples were prepared (100 g dw) for
each vegetative part, sufficient for this study's biochemical analyses.
S. wightii vegetative parts were homogenised (seasonal analyses) and
cut into small pieces (0.5–1.5 mm) and stored in sealed plastic bags.
As S. wightii is highly hygroscopic, all samples were oven dried at
105 °C for 24 h. All analyses were initiated immediately after drying
was completed.