## 3 Results  
All the seaweeds analyzed demonstrated a different micronutrient and trace element profile (Table 1), containing different amounts of each element. For instance, the non-indigenous seaweed _U. pimatifda_ exhibited the highest content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sodium (3.8 g N 100 g\({}^{-1}\), 0.223 g P 100 g\({}^{-1}\), and 1.40454 g Na 100 g\({}^{-1}\), respectively), while containing the lowest amount of potassium, iron, copper, and manganese (0.55303 g K 100 g\({}^{-1}\), 0.00682 g Fe 100 g\({}^{-1}\), 0.0002 g Cu 100 g\({}^{-1}\), and 0.00038 g Mn 100 g\({}^{-1}\), respectively). However, the brown seaweed _S. polyschides_ demonstrated its high abundance of calcium and magnesium (0.68929 g Ca 100 g\({}^{-1}\) and 0.44725 g Mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\)). In comparison with the other analyzed seaweeds, _S. latissima_ exhibited the highest concentration of iron (0.06265 g Fe 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), copper (0.00053 g Cu 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), and zinc (0.00285 g Zn 100 g\({}^{-1}\)); in contrast, it presented the lowest amount of phosphorus (0.111048 g P 100 g\({}^{-1}\)) and calcium (0.44427 g Ca 100 g\({}^{-1}\)). For another perspective, _L. octroleuca_ showed to be the richest source of manganese (0.00126 g Mn 100 g\({}^{-1}\)) but the poorest of nitrogen (2.15 g N 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), magnesium (0.26609.g Mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), sodium (1.07026 g Na 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), and zinc (0.0019 g Zn 100 g\({}^{-1}\)). Fresh (Table 2) and dry (Table 3) seaweed biomass hold different nutritional characteristics. The fresh biomass of _U. pimatifda_ showed a different nutritional characterization, being the poorest seaweed in ash (1.20 g 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), fat (0.04 g 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), fiber (0.57 g 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), protein (1.53 g 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), carbohydrates (3.14 g 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), and energy value (80 KJ/100 g). Conversely, _S. latissima_ was the nutritionally richest seaweed, presenting the highest values of fat (0.21 g 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), protein (1.90 g 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), carbohydrates (8.45 g 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), and energy (181 KJ/100 g). While _U. pimatifda_ exhibited the highest moisture (93.5 g 100 g), _L. octroleuca_ presented the lowest (85.9 g 100 g\({}^{-1}\)), offering the highest carbohydrate content, with 1.64 g 100 g\({}^{-1}\). Overall, _U. pimatifda_ is the seaweed with the lowest nutritional content among the seaweeds investigated. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Micronutrient and Trace Element** & _U. pimatifda_ & _S. polyschides_ & _S. latissima_ & _L. octroleuca_ \\
**(g 100 g\({}^{-1}\))** & _U. pimatifda_ & _S. polyschides_ & _S. latissima_ & _L. octroleuca_ \\ \hline Nitrogen & 3.8 \(\pm\) 0.02160  & 2.37 \(\pm\) 0.08718  & 2.31 \(\pm\) 0.0387  & 2.15 \(\pm\) 0.0277  & Phosphorus & 0.223 \(\pm\) 0.00059  & 0.11705 \(\pm\) 0.00930  & 0.11048 \(\pm\) 0.00026  & 0.1319 \(\pm\) 0.00724  \\ Calcium & 0.60928 \(\pm\) 0.03119  & 0.68929 \(\pm\) 0.01117  & 0.44427 \(\pm\) 0.01368  & 0.65807 \(\pm\) 0.01312  \\ Magnesium & 0.42665 \(\pm\) 0.00778  & 0.44725 \(\pm\) 0.00374  & 0.28286 \(\pm\) 0.00014  & 0.26609 \(\pm\) 0.00027  \\ Potassium & 0.55303 \(\pm\) 0.07497  & 1.54396 \(\pm\) 0.00890  & 0.25134 \(\pm\) 0.01345  & 1.23641 \(\pm\) 0.00131  \\ Sodium & 1.40454 \(\pm\) 0.07540  & 1.09421 \(\pm\) 0.008974  & 1.2572 \(\pm\) 0.02292 & 1.07026 \(\pm\) 0.05769  \\ Iron & 0.00682 \(\pm\) 0.29554  & 0.01605 \(\pm\) 0.72364  & 0.06265 \(\pm\) 0.13051  & 0.0083 \(\pm\) 0.18507  \\ Copper & 0.0002 \(\pm\) 0.04408 & 0.00023 \(\pm\) 0.17871 & 0.00053 \(\pm\) 0.42157 & 0.00031 \(\pm\) 0.80396  \\ Zinc & 0.00277 \(\pm\) 0.07034  & 0.00262 \(\pm\) 0.62707  & 0.00285 \(\pm\) 0.12177  & 0.0019 \(\pm\) 0.26826  \\ Manganese & 0.00038 \(\pm\) 0.23138  & 0.00046 \(\pm\) 0.50164  & 0.00045 \(\pm\) 0.90370  & 0.00126 \(\pm\) 1.08028  \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Micronutrient and trace element composition of _U. pimatifda_, _S. latissima_, _L. octroleuca_, and _S. polyschides_. Results are expressed in mean \(\pm\) standard error (\(n=2\); dry weight basis).