Nutritional value
The seaweeds are cultivated both for commercial and domestic use in most
countries of WIO region such as Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique and
Madagascar. The use of seaweed as food is well known and several
nutrients have been identified in different species of seaweed. They
contain valuable nutrients such as carbohydrate, minerals such as iron
and calcium , fiber, protein which contain essential amino acids,
vitamins and trace elements such as iodin\soute (93). Seaweeds are
among natural food that provides a highly nutritious but low in calories
diet. Seaweeds are therefore the best method that can be used to
alleviate nutritional deficiencies of the current food, due to its
abundant constituents of nutrients (94).
The use of seaweeds as a staple substance of diet date back to ancient
times in several nations like Japan, Korea, and China (95, 96). The
nutritional benefit of seaweeds was utilized since 8thcentury and there are about 21 species that are used in everyday meal
(97). Some seaweeds were used since time immemorial for honored guests,
even for the king (98-100). In Western cookery, there is little
tradition of using seaweed though currently there is a renewed interest
in the use of seaweed as sea vegetables (101). Seaweed is also used as a
functional food due to its effect on one or more physiological
functions, as increasing the welfare and decreases the risk of suffering
from the onset or development of particular diseases mostly function as
preventive rather than curative (102, 103). Moreover, seaweed has found
its application as a nutraceutical, as supplements rather than whole
food, and marketed as pills and tablets which can provide useful health
benefits (104). The bioactive compound in seaweed such asKappaphycus alvarezii and Sargassum tenerrimum contain
valuable nutritional value which is important to human health (105).