Influence of harvest time on carotenoids content of brown seaweed (Padina sp. and Sargassum sp.) infused oil

Abstract

Brown seaweeds (Padina sp. and Sargassum sp.) - infused oil is a seaweed extract product, that uses an edible oil (virgin coconut oil) as a solvent using the maceration method. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of harvest time of brown seaweed in the rainy and dry seasons on the carotenoid content of the seaweed-infused oil. The measurement of carotenoid content as β-carotenes in seaweed-infused oil has been done using the UV-visible spectrophotometer. Padina sp. and Sargassum sp. that grow in the dry season produced seaweed-infused oil with β-carotenes of 8.54±1.20 μg/ml and 96.48±26.90 μg/ml, and those vegetate in the rainy season 163.79±37.56 μg/ml and 350.88±32.89 μg/ml, respectively. Seaweed-infused oil contains higher carotenoid pigments from brown seaweed that harvested in the rainy than those in the dry season which they grow naturally throughout the years.