Bromatological Analysis of Marine Macroalgae Present in the Central Coast of Manabí, Ecuador

Bromatological Analysis of Marine Macroalgae Present in the Central Coast of Manabí, Ecuador | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Bromatological Analysis of Marine Macroalgae Present in the Central Coast of Manabí, Ecuador JUAN NAPA ESPAÑA, KESHIA PICO SORNOZA, JESÚS BRIONES MENDOZA, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5220662/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Macroalgae play an important role in maintaining the overall balance of the planet, not only through oxygen production but also due to their importance as the foundation of food webs, climate regulation, habitats, nutrient cycles, and their commercial value to humans. The purpose of this study was to determine the richness of marine macroalgae species along the coastal profile of the central zone of Manabí, Ecuador, their bromatology, and presence of heavy metals, as a contribution to the knowledge of the nutritional potential of these species. Three zones were selected for their composition: Punta Blanca-Jaramijó, Barbasquillo-Manta and Puerto Cayo, where algal species samples were collected according to established protocols. Monthly bromatological analyses of three species, Ulva Lactuca, Padina pavonica and Caulerpa racemosa, were performed from August 2018-July 2019. A total of 18 macroalgae species were identified, belonging to three phyla: Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta, with Lobophora variegata (Ochrophyta: Phaeophyta) being the most frequently recorded species. Regarding the bromatological analyses, humidity and ash contents varied in a cyclical and inverse way, with higher humidity values from August to December. Lipid content was ≤ 3% while protein content in Ulva lactuca varied in the range 17.5 – 0.6%, while the other species between 5 – 0.33%. A high concentration of Mn was observed among minerals, providing guidelines for future beneficial research. The ecotoxicological tests (heavy metals) showed values above the permissible normal indices, highlighting the need to consider these results for the conservation and recovery of contaminated areas. Intertidal zone Bromatology Cadmium Ecotoxicology Lobophora variegata Padina pavonica Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Significance Statement A total of 18 macroalgae species were identified in three locations of the central coast of Manabí province, Ecuador, belonging to three phyla: Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta, with six species in each phylum. The communities were dominated by Phaeophyta species, being Lobophora variegata the most frequently recorded species, followed by Padina pavonica and Colpomenia sinuosa. Bromatological analyses, significant results were obtained in all samples, as well as for minerals, providing guidelines for future beneficial research. The ecotoxicological tests for heavy metals, showed values of Cd and Pb above the permissible normal indices, highlighting the need to consider these results for the conservation and recovery of contaminated areas. Introduction Algae are simple, chlorophyll-containing organisms integrated by one cell or grouped together in colonies or as organisms with many collaborating cells, forming simple tissues (El Gamal 2012 ). As photosynthetic organisms, algae play a fundamental role in the productivity of oceans and constitute the basis of the marine food chain (Bold and Wynne 1985 ), absorbing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and nutrients (Montoya et al. 2017 ; Pardilhó et al. 2022 ). Additionally, they generate high primary productivity and biological diversity, offering shelter and nursery areas for many species in their juvenile stages (Nava-Olvera et al. 2017 ). They are primarily grouped into three phyla: Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta (including the class Phaeophyceae), and Rhodophyta, which have the ability to adapt to various substrates such as sandy shores, coral reefs, rocky coastlines, and mangroves, adopting different morphologies depending on the complexity of their structure and environmental adaptations (Carr 1991 ; Montoya et al. 2017 ) Algae have been used as food since ancient times in Eastern countries, being included in local cuisine. However, in Europe, countries like Spain have a good abundance of species, though their consumption is not part of traditional culinary practices. In recent years, they have been gradually introduced into the daily diet (Gómez Ordóñez 2013). In Ecuador, the Association of Dry Feed Manufacturers mentions that the availability of the two main raw material components that produce protein and energy for the production of dry feed in the country, are provided by the coast through several species of fish that use algae as part of their diet in early developmental stages (AFABA 2010 ). Consuming algae contributes to fulfilling the main nutrients in a basic diet, but it is important to identify their chemical composition, which depends on the species, cultivation location, atmospheric conditions, and collection period. From a nutritional standpoint, algae are highly valuable due to their high dietary fiber content (33–50% dry weight), being an important source of protein (brown algae 5–24%; red and green algae 10–47%) (Mohamed et al. 2012 ), minerals (8–40%), and their low lipid content (1–2%) (Rupérez and Saura-Calixto 2001 ). On the Ecuadorian coast, edible seaweed has potential as a nutritious food, since it can provide between 1,500 and 2,000 kcal per kilogram, offering a higher energy intake than many common vegetables, while providing vitamins and amino acids (D'Armas et al. 2019; Tullberg et al. 2022 ). Seaweed cultivation is experiencing rapid growth in the aquaculture industry. This increase is due to the applications of seaweed in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and energy industries (Machado et al. 2020 ; Brakel et al. 2021 ; Arias-Echeverri et al. 2022 ). Although seaweed cultivation has potential, it is necessary to continue researching and developing protocols to involve a greater number of species on a larger scale (Savvashe et al. 2021). In Ecuador, most publications on phycology studies have been conducted in the Galápagos Marine Reserve in collaboration with the Charles Darwin Foundation. Subsequently, the first ecological-phycological study titled “Ecological Study of Rhodophyta in the Provinces of Guayas and Manabí” was published (Howe 1914 ; Müller-Gelinek and Salazar-Orquera 1996 ). The results of these studies formed a baseline, reporting 316 species of marine algae for Galápagos, with 29% endemism (Garske-Garcia et al. 2002) and 167 species for the continental coastline of Ecuador (Cuvi-Fajardo and Cornejo 2020 ). Considering the above, this study aims to georeference and identify areas where algae species develop along the central coastal profile of Manabí, and describe their bromatology to enhance the potential economic use. The term bromatology of an organic item is the consideration of its nature, quality, and uses (Oxford English Dictionary 2024 ). Materials and Methods Samples for the algae richness study were collected from three zones along the central coastal profile of Manabí: Punta Blanca-Jaramijó (-0.929036 S, -80.666193 W), Barbasquillo-Manta (-0.94373 S, -80.75463 W), and Puerto López-Puerto Cayo (-1.09456 S, -80.89857 W) (Fig. 1). The study was conducted during June to November 2023 for Punta Blanca; April to September 2023 for Barbasquillo; and September 2023 to February 2024 for Puerto Cayo. The sampling zones were chosen due to their accessibility from land, and morphology of the beach (rocky shore, slope and area exposed at low tide). Two samplings were conducted per month, with a 15-day interval, taking into consideration the tidal state to achieve greater coverage (Cota-Ortega et al. 2021 ). The monitoring was carried out during low tide according to the Ecuadorian tide table (Instituto Oceanográfico y Antártico de la Armada 2023 ). The method used for monitoring was the variable transect (Mostacedo & Fredericksen 2000 ), a variation of transects used for rapid vegetation assessments, considering plants or plant classes separated by life forms (trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, epiphytes). Preliminary samplings were made in each location to collect and identify the species present in the area. Experimental samplings were performed in each location by three persons walking along the rocky sector of the beach, covering the infralittoral and mesolittoral zones. A checklist was used to register the presence of the algae species. Plastic labeled containers with screw-on wide-mouth lids, with a capacity of one liter (1 L), were used to collect the samples in seawater and fixed with 8% formaldehyde solution (Smithsonian Institution, 2024 ). A Canon EOS Rebel T100 DSLR 18MP camera was used to take images of the species found. Finally, the collected samples were taken to the biology laboratory of the Faculty of Life Sciences and Technologies for analysis. In the laboratory, the samples were selected and cleaned using distilled water and brushes to remove encrusting residues or any impurities that could cause algae deterioration. A LABOMED V2.7 binocular stereo microscope was used to capture images. Various electronic resources were used as didactic support for taxonomic identification of the algae, including (AlgaeBase 2023 ), and INTKEY version 1.2 (León Álvarez et al. 2017 ). The bromatological analyses were performed in three algae species, Ulva lactuca, Padina pavonica and Caulerpa racemosa , due to their abundance in the location studied and their potential use as described in previous studies (Naylor et al. 2021 ; Msuya et al. 2022 ; Bachoo et al. 2023 ). For the bromatological analyses, 200 g of random samples were collected per species from the Punta Blanca area between August 2018 and July 2019. A spatula and knife were used for extraction to avoid damaging the morphological structures of the algae. The samples were hermetically stored in Ziploc bags with filtered seawater to maintain freshness and transport the organisms to the laboratory for analysis. The bromatological analyses were conducted at the laboratory of the Research Institute of the Technical University of Manabí in Portoviejo. The samples were washed with distilled water to remove epiphytic fauna. The analyses were performed following standardized protein techniques like the Kjeldahl method, as described in method 928.08 of AOAC (AOAC 1990; AOAC 1997), lipids using the Soxhlet method (Delgado 2013 ), moisture, and ashes using the gravimetric method (García Martínez and Fernández Segovia 2012). The analyses of mineral concentrations of the algae were performed at the Agrocalidad Processing Center in Tumbaco, Quito. The samples were dehydrated in an oven at 105°C for 4h (Ruíz-Navarro et al., 2013 a) and the concentration of Ca, Cu, K, Fe, Mg, Mn, and Zn were then carried out by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (Vara and Huerta 2008 ) in triplicate samples for each algae species. Weekly sea surface data for the study locations were obtained from IOA (2024) and average monthly values were estimated from August 2018 to July 2019. For the coliform analysis, samples of seawater surrounding the study area were collected using labeled 250 mL glass jars. The sampling was performed at a depth of 1 m in the water column, with two (2) replicas for each monitoring. The samples were sent to the Oils and Fats (A&G) laboratory of La Fabril S.A., Manta, Manabí, for processing. Regarding heavy metals, 30 g of the two most representative families (Ulvaceae and Dictyotaceae) were sent to the spectrophotometry laboratory at the University of Guayaquil for analysis, according to Perkin Elmer (1996). Statistical tests and graphical analyses were processed in RStudio (Verzani 2011 ). Additionally, the following packages were used: vegan (Oksanen et al. 2013 ), kableExtra (Zhu et al. 2019 ), BiodiversityR (Kindt and Kindt 2019 ), ggplot2 (Wickham et al. 2016 ), adespatial (Dray et al. 2018 ), plyr (Wickham and Wickham 2020 ), RColorBrewer (Neuwirth 2014 ), tidyverse (Wickham 2017 ), sf (Pebesma and Bivand 2023 ), SpadeR (Chao et al. 2016 ), Inext (Haddon 2020 ), extrafont (Chang 2014 ), ggthemes (Arnold 2021 ), MQMF (Haddon 2020 ), MESS (Ekstrøm 2023 ), cluster (Maechler et al. 2013 ), factoextra (Kassambara and Mundt 2017 ), ggforce (Pedersen et al. 2020 ), dplyr (Wickham and Wickham 2020 ), reshape2 (Wickham and Wickham 2022 ), treemapify (Wilkins 2021 ), GGally (Schloerke et al. 2021 ). Pearson correlation coefficient was used to compare the association between SST and bromatological parameters. Results A total of 18 species of marine macroalgae were reported in the three (3) study areas (Punta Blanca, Barbasquillo, and Puerto Cayo), located in the central part of Manabí, Ecuador (Fig. 1). During the sampling period, it was observed that the phyla Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta each recorded six species, respectively (Table 1). Table 1. Species and number of observations of marine algae recorded from June to November 2023 in the central coast of Manabí. Phylum Order Family Species # Recorded observations Punta Blanca Beach Barbasquillo Beach Puerto Cayo Beach Chlorophyta Ulvales Ulvaceae Ulva lactuca 9 2 2 Ulva intestinalis 6 0 0 Bryopsidales Caulerpaceae Caulerpa racemosa 18 0 8 Caulerpa sertularioides 12 9 0 Codiaceae Codium tomentosum 9 0 6 Cladophorales Cladophoraceae Chaetomorpha aérea 0 8 0 Ochrophyta Ectocarpales Scytosiphonaceae Colpomenia sinuosa 9 10 9 Chnoospora minima 0 4 6 Dictyotales Dictyotaceae Dictyota dichotoma 9 0 2 Padina pavonica 18 12 7 Lobophora variegata 18 12 11 Fucales Sargassaceae Sargassum fluitans 6 0 4 Rhodophyta Corallinales Corallinaceae Jania rubens 12 0 0 Gigartinales Caulacanthaceae Caulacanthus ustulatus 17 0 3 Nemaliales Liagoraceae Liagora ceranoides 6 4 1 Galaxauraceae Galaxaura rugosa 3 1 0 Ceramiales Rhodomelaceae Acanthophora muscoides 3 2 6 Ceramiaceae Ceramium rubrum 0 0 1 Lobophora variegata (Lv), belonging to the class Phaeophyta of the phylum Ochrophyta, recorded 41 sightings, making it the most observed species across the three sampling areas (Fig. 2). Padina pavonica (Pp), from the class Phaeophyta, ranked second with a record of 37 observations, followed by Colpomenia sinuosa in the third place with 28 sightings across the three zones. In the same way, the phyllum Chlorophyta, with the species Caulerpa racemosa (26 sightings) and C. sertularioides (21 records), occupied fifth and sixth place, respectively. However, Caulacanthus ustulatus (20 observations), belonging to the phylum Rhodophyta, ranked seventh among the total species reported in Lobophora variegata this study (Fig. 2 and 3a). Finally, the algae with the fewest sightings was Ceramium rubrum , with one observation recorded in January 2024, identified in the Puerto Cayo area (Table 1). The spatial distribution of macroalgae (Fig. 3b) showed that 54.4% of 285 sightings were found in Punta Blanca, 22.5% in Barbasquillo, and 23.2 % in Puerto Cayo. The Phylum Chlorophyta represented 31% of the species, the Ochrophyta 48%, and Rhodophyta 21%. The dominance of Ochrophyta was observed in the three locations (39% in Punta Blanca, 59% in Barbasquillo and Puerto Cayo). The most representative species were Lobophora variegata (Lv-41), Padina pavonica (Pp-37), and Colpomenia sinuosa (Csn-28), which belong to the phylum Ochrophyta (class Phaeophyta). It is evident that the highest presence was observed in the central-northern region of Ecuador (Fig. 3a). Regarding the abundance of the observed species, there was greater representation in the Punta Blanca area of the algae Caulacanthus ustulatus (Cus), Caulerpa racemosa (Cvu), Lobophora variegata (Lv), and Padina pavonica (Pp). Meanwhile, for Barbasquillo, the larger number of records was for Padina pavonica (Pp) and Lobophora variegata (Lv). The latter was the predominant species in the Puerto Cayo area (Fig. 4). The phylum with the highest percentage representation was Ochrophyta (Fig. 5b), with the species Lobophora variegata (14.4%), Padina pavonica (13%), Colpomenia sinuosa (9.8%), and Caulerpa racemosa (9.1%) being the most prevalent in the study areas (Fig. 5a). The frequentist analysis suggests that the silhouette index fits more closely with the Kulczynski distance and the Ward.D2 method, showing a value of 0.626 for both criteria respectively. This indicates that the Kulczynski distance globally fits the model, and also establishes that the Ward.D2 method allows for a close relationship both within families and species, compared to the ecosystem in which they interact. Therefore, the quality of the formed clusters represents the separation of the cluster from other groups of plant species (Fig. 6). The moisture percentage recorded for the species Caulerpa racemosa showed high values during 2018, with September (94.88%), October (95.60%), and December (96.84%) being notable months. For Padina pavonica, moisture percentages increased during October (82.81%), December (81.49%), and January (81.89%). However, Ulva lactuca exhibited elevated moisture levels during August (87.69%), October (86.12%), and December (90.36%) of 2018, as well as January (80.78%) and July (82.28%) of 2019 (Fig. 7a). The percentage concentration of ash obtained during the sampling showed a significant increase in September (20.86%) 2018 and March (22.59%) 2019 for Padina pavonica. However, during 2019, high indicators were recorded for Ulva lactuca in March (64.89%) and May (62.49%), while the highest percentage values for Caulerpa racemosa were recorded in March (33.98%) and May (30.41%) 2019, respectively (Fig. 7b). The lipid concentration in the species Padina pavonica and Ulva lactuca reflected values < 1% on a dry weight basis throughout the 12 months of sampling. The species Caulerpa racemosa showed growth in lipid percentage in 2018, with values of 0.95% in September, an accelerated increase in November (19.10%) and December (59.70%), and a sustained decrease during the months of 2019 (Fig. 8a). The protein concentration in marine macroalgae indicates that Ulva lactuca maintained a higher percentage of protein concentration, exceeding values above 15% from August to October 2018 and March 2019. However, a sustained decrease in protein percentage was recorded from November to December 2018 and January 2019, with a slight recovery observed in June (8.85%) and July (10.41%) of 2019. In contrast, Padina pavonica and Caulerpa racemosa reached a maximum protein concentration of 5.5% during the sampling period, placing both species with the lowest protein concentration indicators among the analyzed plant organisms (Fig. 8b). Within the mineral analyses conducted during the study months across the three species of marine macroalgae, high averages for Mn were observed, with P. pavonica being the marine plant with the highest increase in this indicator. Additionally, the concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Ca showed sustained values throughout the evaluation period. However, the mineral micronutrients with the lowest values were K, Fe, and Mg for the reported species (Table 2). Table 2. Average concentration of minerals in the reported algal species from the intertidal zone of Punta Blanca, Manabí, Ecuador, between August 2018 and July 2019. Species Ca (%) Mg (%) K (%) Fe (%) Mn (mg/kg) Cu (mg/kg) Zn (mg/kg) C. racemosa 8,3 ± 1,8 0,5 ± 0,1 0,3 ± 0,1 0,6 ± 0,3 84,9 ± 30,1 34,2 ± 22,6 20,6 ± 12,6 P. pavonica 9,4 ± 1,4 1,2 ± 0,4 2,2 ± 1,2 1,1 ± 0,5 169,8 ± 30,0 14,2 ± 20,5 41 ± 25,8 U. lactuca 10,4 ± 1,7 1,9 ± 0,7 0,5 ± 0,1 0,8 ± 0,3 116,2 ± 41,2 12,8 ± 19,8 22 ± 12,1 Regarding the reported heavy metal values, we can see that the two representative samples analyzed from the Ulvaceae and Dictyotaceae families show cadmium values of 2.3 and 3.81, while for lead, the values are 0.54 and 7.50, respectively (Table 3). Table 3. Heavy metal concentration (mean ± SD as mg/100 g) in algae samples from Punta Blanca locality, Manabí, Ecuador. Metal Species Ulva lactuca Lobophora variegata Cadmium 2,3 ±0,13 3,81 ±1,63 Lead 0,54 ±0,15 7,50 ±0,79 In the analysis of seawater in two of the three monitored areas, it is evident that both Barbasquillo Beach and Punta Blanca reported values for mesophilic aerobes of 5.0 × 10¹ and 7.0 × 10¹ CFU/ml, respectively. Additionally, for these same locations, total coliforms were analyzed, yielding results of 18 and 113 CFU per 100 ml, respectively, while fecal coliforms for these two areas recorded values of less than 1 CFU/100 ml, respectively. Discussion A total of eighteen macroalgae species were reported, with each phylum—Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta—having 6 representative species, respectively. This study shows 18 registered species, with Ochrophyta, particularly the class Phaeophyceae (60%), being the most predominant phylum, followed by Chlorophyta (54%) and Rhodophyta (42%). It is evident that the highest presence of algae was observed in the central-northern region of Manabí province. These results are close to those reported by Bashir et al. ( 2022 ) in the Sindh coast, Pakistan, between February 2020 and January 2021, where they recorded a total of 64 species, with Phaeophyceae (45%) being the most predominant, followed by Rhodophyta (34%) and Chlorophyta (20%). However, there is a contrast with data recorded by Arhas et al. ( 2022 ) on the coasts of Aceh, Indonesia, where a total of 32 algae species were exhibited, distributed among 11 individuals of the class Chlorophyceae, 11 of Phaeophyceae, and 10 of Rhodophyceae. According to (Narváez 2015 ), this suggests that the equitable distribution of species among the three phyla indicates that the thermal conditions of the region are suitable for a balanced diversity of macroalgae. When compared with studies in regions with different temperatures, a pattern of species distribution is observed that could be characteristic of areas with stable and warm temperatures, such as Manabí in Ecuador. Additionally, González-Etchebehere et al. (2017) indicated that changes in species composition throughout the year and habitat characteristics are key factors in the distribution of macroalgae. In the case of this study, an equitable distribution among the three phyla was observed, but with higher representativeness for the class Phaeophyceae, or brown algae. These analyses contribute to the understanding of biodiversity and the ecology of macroalgae in different ecosystems and provide a basis for future research and conservation strategies. The data support that the central region of Manabí is predominantly represented by the phylum Ochrophyta, class Phaeophyceae, with some reported species. This complex interaction between environmental factors present in each location results from the habitat characteristics and biological dynamics of each region, with their specific conditions influencing the distribution and variability of algae species worldwide (Maciel-Mata et al. 2015 ). Regarding abundance, the species Caulacanthus ustulatus was the most representative marine plant in the Punta Blanca area, Padina pavonica in Barbasquillo, and Lobophora variegata in Puerto Cayo. However, results such as those reported by Kepel et al. (2019) in the Minahasa Peninsula, northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, contrast with this study, as they recorded a total of 35 different algae species in the study area, with the most abundant in all three stations being Amphiroa fragilissima, Gracilaria edulis (red algae), and Bornetella sphaerica (green algae). These findings support the idea that certain marine areas or regions may experience high primary productivity due to the presence of nutrients in the water and their mixing, which, along with biological activity, creates a nutrient-rich environment for marine organisms. Additionally, it is noted that ocean currents in certain regions can help distribute larvae, spores, and micronutrients, facilitating recruitment, coral growth, and a favorable environment for macroalgae species (Contreras-Espinosa et al. 2005 ). The changes in the currents affecting the coastal areas and the load of algae spores caried by them, can originate variation in the richness of the macroalgae species observed in the localities. During the development of the samplings for the bromatological analyses of the present study, there were moments when the availability of U. lactuca and P. pavonica were scarce in some locations. The results showed that L. variegata (Lv), belonging to the class Phaeophyceae and the phylum Ochrophyta, recorded a total of 41 sightings, ranking first among the three sampling areas. A comprehensive morphological study conducted by Torres Conde et al. ( 2021 ) from 2011 to 2019 in Cuba contrasts with the results of this study, where six species of the genus Lobophora were found, including a first record of L. guadeloupensis , expanding the algae's distribution range. Additionally, Martínez et al . (2023) confirmed the presence of L. variegata and L. dispersa , with the latter being reported for the first time on Mexican coasts. Robertson and Cramer ( 2014 ) argued that the combination of warm temperatures, adequate salinity, good light penetration, hard substrates, moderate sea currents, and nutrient availability create a favorable environment for the growth of Lobophora spp. The presence of these environmental factors in coastal areas and reefs with lower temperatures facilitates the proliferation and development of these brown algae, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical seas worldwide (Martínez et al. 2023). Therefore, ocean currents connecting the Greater Caribbean and South America are vital for the distribution and transport of nutrients. These dynamics not only affect marine biodiversity and primary productivity in these regions but also influence fisheries and coastal ecosystems (United Nations 2023 ). The frequentist analysis suggests that the silhouette index fits most closely with the Kulczynski distance and the Ward.D2 method, showing a value of 0.626 for both criteria. Therefore, the quality of the formed clusters represents the separation of the cluster from other groups of plant species. This coincides with the study conducted by Martínez-Daranas et al. ( 2016 ) on the southwestern platform of Cuba, where cluster analysis (CLUSTER) showed differences in species composition and their dry biomass (DB) in the 24 collected samples, which were organized into three groups (post hoc SIMPROF test). Non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS) confirmed the structure proposed by the cluster analysis (CLUSTER) with three well-defined groups. Rangel-Ch and Velázquez,(1997) stated that this type of frequentist analysis is used to infer properties of a population from a sample. In the context of marine algae, this type of analysis can be useful for studying the health of a particular marine ecosystem, identifying distribution patterns, and assessing the impact of environmental factors such as pollution or climate change. Additionally, frequentist analysis can help to establish relationships between variables, such as the relationship between water temperature and the abundance of certain algae species. The percentage of moisture recorded for C. racemosa showed values above 94% during 2018, peaking from September to December. For P. pavonica , moisture content increases were observed in October, December, and January, remaining above 81%. In contrast, U. lactuca showed elevated peaks (between 80% and 90%) during August, October, and December 2018, including January and July 2019. In contrast to the data reported in this study, Castro-González et al. ( 1996 ) observed moisture values not exceeding 11% in Ulva spp., Caulerpa spp., and Padina spp. Additionally, a study by Armas et al. ( 2021 ) on the proximate composition of Caribbean Sea collected in the Gulf of Cariaco, Venezuela, reported maximum moisture values of 54% for Padina boergesenii , which are below the values reported in this study. González-Etchebehere et al. (2017) explained that moisture content in marine macroalgae is essential for maintaining their structure and form, metabolic processes (photosynthesis, respiration, etc.), adaptation to manage variability in salinity and water temperature. However, being rich in water, their nutrient content such as proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals can vary depending on the species and environmental conditions. In some cases, this component can also be a disadvantage for conservation and storage in production processes. The ash content (dry weight) observed during sampling showed a notable increase in September (20.86%) 2018 and March (22.59%) 2019 for P. pavonica . However, in March (64.89%) and May (62.49%) of the same year, high indicators were recorded for U. lactuca , while the highest ash content recorded for C. racemosa was in March (33.98%) and May (30.41%) 2019, respectively. These results align with those reported by Frikha et al. ( 2011 ) and Aguilera-Morales et al, ( 2005 ), who evaluated the chemical composition in U. rigida and U. lactuca , reporting an ash content between 11.35% and 33.07%. However, the percentage described by Kumar et al. ( 2011 ), who studied three species of Caulerpa on the coast of India, contrasts with the results of this study, showing ash concentrations ranging from 24.2–33.7% (dry weight). Niel (1975) stated that the mineral content in terms of ash proportion ranges between 18% and 30% in brown algae and around 26% in red algae. This analysis is important because it allows for the evaluation of the mineral composition of algae, which can have implications for nutritional value and their use in various applications such as food, dietary supplements, or fertilizers. The lipid concentration in P. pavonica and U. lactuca reflected values < 1% in dry weight throughout the 12 months of sampling, indicating that the total content of fatty acids for the genus Ulva may be relatively low. Records of Aguilera-Morales et al. ( 2005 ) agreed with the values recorded in this study, ranging from 0.02–0.28%, which aligns with results obtained by Wong and Cheung ( 2001 ), who reported lipid values ranging between 0.34% and 0.72% in some green algae. These results suggest that the macroalgae, in general, have a low lipid content, which could influence their nutritional value and their potential applications in different sectors. The protein content in U. lactuca was highest in August (20.24%), while C. racemosa and P. pavonica showed peaks in August (15.65%) and September (19.71%), respectively. The protein content reported in this study is consistent with values found by Khan et al. ( 2024 ) in species of Ulva intesinalis and Padina tetrastromatica from Bay of Bengala, Bangladesh, whose protein were 18,35% and 8,7%, respectively. Kusnadi et al. ( 2022 ) in Southeast Mollucas Island found crude protein contents of 10,09% and 3,48% in Ulva sp, and Padina sp., respectively. Comparable protein values were observed by Ganesh Temkar et al. (2019), who reported protein levels ranging from 6.91–16.85% in various green algae of India, while Padina spp. showed values between 8.7% and 19.6%. Marsham et al. ( 2007 ) reported protein contents of U. lactuca of 29% while Wong and Sheum (2001) reported for the same species a protein content of 7.1%. In general, reported protein contents of red and green seaweeds are in the range 10–30% dry matter (Burtin 2003 ). However, the protein concentration in seaweeds varies according to several factors, such as species, environmental conditions and it may also be influenced on the applied method of protein determination (Lourenço et al., 2002 ). The high protein content of some macroalgae, particularly Ulva spp. or Fucus spp. (Misurcova 2012 ), make them suitable as food sources for human consumption or raw material for dry feed production. However, the high seasonal variability of the protein content observed in the present study, and also reported by Galland-Irmouli et al. (1999) and Fleurence ( 1999 ), among other authors, introduces uncertainty in their use as stable raw material, in comparison with fish or soybean meal. The mineral content of the three species showed variability, with C. racemosa exhibiting high levels of magnesium and calcium (above 10%), while P. pavonica and U. lactuca had more balanced distributions of calcium and potassium. These results are similar to those reported by Cota-Ortega et al. ( 2021 ) and Vishnupriya Sowjanya and Sekhar ( 2015 ), who observed that macroalgae are important sources of essential minerals, including calcium, magnesium, and potassium. This mineral composition can influence their suitability for various applications, such as in human nutrition or as fertilizers. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of the nutritional and ecological importance of macroalgae species in the coastal areas of Ecuador. By providing detailed information on the species composition, abundance, and biochemical content, this research supports the development of sustainable management practices and conservation strategies for marine resources. Further research is needed to explore the potential applications of these macroalgae in different sectors and to assess the impact of environmental changes on their distribution and composition in the entire coastal area of Ecuador. Regarding the values ​​of heavy metals reported in this preliminary study, it was observed that the two representative samples analyzed from the families Ulvaceae (Chlorophyta) and Dictyotaceae (Phaeophyceae) showed values ​​for cadmium of 2,3 to 0,54 mg/kg, while lead values were between 3,8 to 7,5 mg/kg, respectively. The cadmium content of both algae species is higher than the maximum allowable limits by national and international standards. Those of lead, are above the Ecuadorian standard, but below the France standard. Algae are not currently used for human consumption in Ecuador. If the heavy metal content shown in this study is representative of the other algae found in the coastline of the country, their use for human consumption would require a previous detoxification process with protocols to be developed. Ruíz-Navarro et al. ( 2013 ) carried out a toxicological analysis in Spain on algae from the Asian and the European Union coast, where they observed that of the 7 species of algae, U. rigida showed average concentrations of 0.30 (Cd) and 0.17 (Pb) mg/kg, suggesting that algae bioaccumulate heavy metals to levels exceeding the maximum permissible limit according to national Ecuadorian and international standards (Table 4 ). However, the intake of toxic metals (1.18 µg Cd/day and 0.68 µg Pb/day) derived from the consumption of 4 g/day of algae, does not represent a toxicological risk for consumers. Table 4 Maximum Permissible Limits (MPL) of Heavy Metals (Cd and Pb) reported in National and International Standards (mg/kg). Parameters Cd Pb Standards Ecuador France Codex alimentarius Ecuador France Codex alimentarius Leafy Vegetables/ seaweed 0,05 0,5 0,2 0,01 5,0 0,3 Sources: Ecuador: Suárez ( 2020 ); France: Ruíz-Navarro et al. ( 2013 ); Codex alimentarius ( 2010 ). In the microbiological analysis of seawater from two of the three monitored areas, low values were found in both sampled areas, Barbasquillo and Punta Blanca, with mesophilic aerobe values of 5.0 × 10¹ and 7.0 × 10¹ CFU/ml, respectively. Additionally, for the same locations, total coliforms were analyzed, yielding results of 18 and 113 CFU/100ml. Fecal coliforms recorded values of less than 1 for both areas. These values contrast with those reported by Cortez et al. ( 2013 ), who assessed bacterial load of mesophilic aerobes, total/fecal coliforms, and enterococci at Chichiriviche beaches, Falcón, Venezuela, and the effect of marine water concentrations on bacterial densities. Bacterial load increased between 20 and 47 times when culture media were supplemented with seawater. Differences in bacterial loads between high-density months (HDM) and low-density months (LDM) for mesophilic aerobes, total coliforms, and fecal coliforms were statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05). According to Font ( 2022 ) and Mohamed et al. ( 2012 ), the quality of marine water in countries such as Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Spain, and the European Union is a crucial issue due to high levels of fecal coliforms, caused by high population density and industrial activity in various regions. Recovering marine waters with high coliform levels is a complex challenge requiring a multifaceted approach to address pollution, improve water quality, and restore the ecological health of the marine environment. Considering the protein and mineral contents of some of the macroalgae evaluated in this study, like Ulva lactuca , and the variation in their seasonal availability in the coastal areas, suggest that their cultivation could be an opportunity to assure a reliable biomass supply for their economic utilization. The cultivation of the foreign Rhodophyta species, Kappaphycus alvarezii , was initiated in 2015 in southern Ecuador, and offers the possibility of using similar techniques to diversify the species under culture. In conclusion, it was observed that in the central zone of Manabí there is a representative quantity of marine macroalgae corresponding to the three phyla: Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta, with a total record of 18 species. The highest number of species was observed in the Punta Blanca area (central northern Manabí). It is important to note that there are no reports for these areas to date, making this work a source of new macroalgal species records in the study area. Regarding the bromatological parameters obtained in this study, the importance of the results should be considered as an indicator of the nutritional quality of some algal species, in addition to the high content of bioactive compounds and the importance of considering ecotoxicological parameters such as heavy metals present in marine plant samples. These criteria are indicators in determining the indices and health status of an ecosystem. Finally, the biodiversity of algae on Ecuadorian coasts showed a dynamic behavior that responded to local conditions and temporal cycles where sightings occur. Substrates define groupings, but many of these groupings are primarily determined by the oceanographic conditions of the environment. Considering the protein and mineral contents of some of the macroalgae evaluated in this study, and the variation in their seasonal availability in the coastal areas, their cultivation could offer opportunities to assure a reliable biomass supply for their economic utilization. Declarations Conflict of Interest In accordance with the ethical principles of this research, the authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest that could influence the results presented in this work. The authors conducted the research with their own funding and the support of public and private institutions, without it affecting the processing and interpretation of the data. Author Contribution JNE: Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Visualization, Writing-original draft, Writing-review and editing.KPS: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, VisualizationJBM: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis Investigation, Methodology, Software, Writing-original draft, Writing-review and editingJAM: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Visualization.LQL: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Visualization, Writing-original draft, Writing-review and editing. Acknowledgments To Eloy Alfaro Secular University of Manabi, whose support made the execution of this work possible through the sabbatical leave granted to J. P. Napa España. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5220662","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":371902588,"identity":"e2b2285b-0a8c-4731-82ae-107589aa8d28","order_by":0,"name":"JUAN NAPA ESPAÑA","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Laica Eloy Alfaro University of Manabí","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"JUAN","middleName":"NAPA","lastName":"ESPAÑA","suffix":""},{"id":371902589,"identity":"e0e16474-7fc0-477c-a72a-2f349b31f515","order_by":1,"name":"KESHIA PICO SORNOZA","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Laica Eloy Alfaro University of Manabí","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"KESHIA","middleName":"PICO","lastName":"SORNOZA","suffix":""},{"id":371902590,"identity":"ad526c7f-74a4-4521-8b9b-094c82644ce8","order_by":2,"name":"JESÚS BRIONES MENDOZA","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Laica Eloy Alfaro University of Manabí","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"JESÚS","middleName":"BRIONES","lastName":"MENDOZA","suffix":""},{"id":371902591,"identity":"10c54d7e-6f1d-47c5-a5fe-f8f20ee19906","order_by":3,"name":"JOSÉ JAVER ALIÓ","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Technical University of Manabí","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"JOSÉ","middleName":"JAVER","lastName":"ALIÓ","suffix":""},{"id":371902592,"identity":"8ffb5454-25e2-414d-b662-fd62752c6d80","order_by":4,"name":"LUBER QUIJIJE","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABC0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPgYeCION4WCDAUMFgwyYx4NHCxuqljNQLlFawICxjRgtErkHH1cwWCf2MR5uKPg47zAPv9gBxgdv2xjk+BtwaclLNjzDkJ7YBnSY4cxth3kkZycwG85tYzCWOIBLS46ZZAPDYbAWY16gFoPbCWzSvG0MiRtwOizH/Cdcy985h3nsbyew/wZqqcejxYwRroWxAWiLdAIbM1BLggEuLTzvkiUbDNKNwX7pOZbOI3E7sVlyzjkJwxk4/MLPnnvwY0OFtez8GcefGfyosZbjn5188MObMht5XCEGAQbMDAwSB9igTmEEqZXApx4EgFr4G5gfEFI2CkbBKBgFIxMAACNRVFOwjyMbAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Laica Eloy Alfaro University of Manabí","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"LUBER","middleName":"","lastName":"QUIJIJE","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-10-07 22:08:08","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5220662/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5220662/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":68938492,"identity":"2cd0a75e-d6f6-4c34-8e40-66c8ffb3366b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-13 17:12:29","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":363917,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eLocation of the study areas in the central coastal profile of Manabí, Ecuador.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5220662/v1/d0f93d117ecc34e706d30e81.png"},{"id":68938641,"identity":"a1b96075-c547-4ec7-9085-b43807b022f8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-13 17:20:29","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":498068,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eAbundance of macroalgae species present in the three sampling zones.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5220662/v1/eafce973168e438f269198f1.png"},{"id":68938638,"identity":"22cc5f4b-db00-4e58-9c2b-5fd0aa518142","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-13 17:20:29","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":51899,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eReported algae species a) Distribution of species in the three-study areas b) Relative frequency of species by study area among the 285 samples collected\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5220662/v1/f3fea2e53942fe53da633d04.png"},{"id":68939503,"identity":"0c74b1ac-e644-4fc5-93a2-611f5905489b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-13 17:28:29","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":571533,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eRecord of the number of algae observations reported in the study areas.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5220662/v1/23bd94d90b9f682772303fd9.png"},{"id":68939501,"identity":"0f22cf67-2fd9-4ffe-b9fc-8192e3e3c1d1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-13 17:28:29","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":107632,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e(a) Percentage distribution of species in the three study areas. (b) Percentage distribution by phylum in the three study areas\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5220662/v1/294e5c4e1a0a99736e61b9ff.png"},{"id":68939829,"identity":"753a2de8-a799-4b01-87bf-654724691cd0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-13 17:36:29","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":122687,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFrequentist analysis a) silhouette index; b) identification of the best-fit method; c) species clustering; d) family clustering.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5220662/v1/2289c996df6603dc1e79dcb5.png"},{"id":68938499,"identity":"96cd3a5c-c8f4-4d72-9b5b-142d5acbe334","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-13 17:12:29","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":117617,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eProximate components in marine algae samples: a) Moisture and b) Ash.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5220662/v1/17446515a4f330e24c243539.png"},{"id":68938496,"identity":"e099fbeb-d034-4e51-be66-4999332dd2fa","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-13 17:12:29","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":92481,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eBromatological components in marine algae samples a) Lipids and b) Protein.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"8.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5220662/v1/9e70eb6bb41c091e9d926980.png"},{"id":74842619,"identity":"a7de79fa-fa1b-451c-8a7d-649e5b0797ab","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-27 13:02:11","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2608813,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5220662/v1/8be2827a-3a36-4801-8452-9e59d6af6828.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eBromatological Analysis of Marine Macroalgae Present in the Central Coast of Manabí, Ecuador\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"Significance Statement","content":"\u003cp\u003eA total of 18 macroalgae species were identified in three locations of the central coast of Manabí province, Ecuador, belonging to three phyla: Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta, with six species in each phylum. The communities were dominated by Phaeophyta species, being Lobophora variegata the most frequently recorded species, followed by Padina pavonica and Colpomenia sinuosa. Bromatological analyses, significant results were obtained in all samples, as well as for minerals, providing guidelines for future beneficial research. The ecotoxicological tests for heavy metals, showed values of Cd and Pb above the permissible normal indices, highlighting the need to consider these results for the conservation and recovery of contaminated areas.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eAlgae are simple, chlorophyll-containing organisms integrated by one cell or grouped together in colonies or as organisms with many collaborating cells, forming simple tissues (El Gamal \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). As photosynthetic organisms, algae play a fundamental role in the productivity of oceans and constitute the basis of the marine food chain (Bold and Wynne \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1985\u003c/span\u003e), absorbing carbon dioxide (CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e) and nutrients (Montoya et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR69\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Pardilh\u0026oacute; et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR64\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Additionally, they generate high primary productivity and biological diversity, offering shelter and nursery areas for many species in their juvenile stages (Nava-Olvera et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR58\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). They are primarily grouped into three phyla: Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta (including the class Phaeophyceae), and Rhodophyta, which have the ability to adapt to various substrates such as sandy shores, coral reefs, rocky coastlines, and mangroves, adopting different morphologies depending on the complexity of their structure and environmental adaptations (Carr \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1991\u003c/span\u003e; Montoya et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR69\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlgae have been used as food since ancient times in Eastern countries, being included in local cuisine. However, in Europe, countries like Spain have a good abundance of species, though their consumption is not part of traditional culinary practices. In recent years, they have been gradually introduced into the daily diet (G\u0026oacute;mez Ord\u0026oacute;\u0026ntilde;ez 2013).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn Ecuador, the Association of Dry Feed Manufacturers mentions that the availability of the two main raw material components that produce protein and energy for the production of dry feed in the country, are provided by the coast through several species of fish that use algae as part of their diet in early developmental stages (AFABA \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConsuming algae contributes to fulfilling the main nutrients in a basic diet, but it is important to identify their chemical composition, which depends on the species, cultivation location, atmospheric conditions, and collection period. From a nutritional standpoint, algae are highly valuable due to their high dietary fiber content (33\u0026ndash;50% dry weight), being an important source of protein (brown algae 5\u0026ndash;24%; red and green algae 10\u0026ndash;47%) (Mohamed et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e), minerals (8\u0026ndash;40%), and their low lipid content (1\u0026ndash;2%) (Rup\u0026eacute;rez and Saura-Calixto \u003cspan citationid=\"CR71\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2001\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOn the Ecuadorian coast, edible seaweed has potential as a nutritious food, since it can provide between 1,500 and 2,000 kcal per kilogram, offering a higher energy intake than many common vegetables, while providing vitamins and amino acids (D'Armas et al. 2019; Tullberg et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR76\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeaweed cultivation is experiencing rapid growth in the aquaculture industry. This increase is due to the applications of seaweed in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and energy industries (Machado et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR48\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Brakel et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Arias-Echeverri et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Although seaweed cultivation has potential, it is necessary to continue researching and developing protocols to involve a greater number of species on a larger scale (Savvashe et al. 2021).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn Ecuador, most publications on phycology studies have been conducted in the Gal\u0026aacute;pagos Marine Reserve in collaboration with the Charles Darwin Foundation. Subsequently, the first ecological-phycological study titled \u0026ldquo;Ecological Study of Rhodophyta in the Provinces of Guayas and Manab\u0026iacute;\u0026rdquo; was published (Howe \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1914\u003c/span\u003e; M\u0026uuml;ller-Gelinek and Salazar-Orquera \u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e). The results of these studies formed a baseline, reporting 316 species of marine algae for Gal\u0026aacute;pagos, with 29% endemism (Garske-Garcia et al. 2002) and 167 species for the continental coastline of Ecuador (Cuvi-Fajardo and Cornejo \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConsidering the above, this study aims to georeference and identify areas where algae species develop along the central coastal profile of Manab\u0026iacute;, and describe their bromatology to enhance the potential economic use. The term bromatology of an organic item is the consideration of its nature, quality, and uses (Oxford English Dictionary \u003cspan citationid=\"CR63\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Materials and Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003eSamples for the algae richness study were collected from three zones along the central coastal profile of Manab\u0026iacute;: Punta Blanca-Jaramij\u0026oacute; (-0.929036 S, -80.666193 W), Barbasquillo-Manta (-0.94373 S, -80.75463 W), and Puerto L\u0026oacute;pez-Puerto Cayo (-1.09456 S, -80.89857 W) (Fig. 1). The study was conducted during June to November 2023 for Punta Blanca; April to September 2023 for Barbasquillo; and September 2023 to February 2024 for Puerto Cayo. The sampling zones were chosen due to their accessibility from land, and morphology of the beach (rocky shore, slope and area exposed at low tide). Two samplings were conducted per month, with a 15-day interval, taking into consideration the tidal state to achieve greater coverage (Cota-Ortega et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). The monitoring was carried out during low tide according to the Ecuadorian tide table (Instituto Oceanogr\u0026aacute;fico y Ant\u0026aacute;rtico de la Armada \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe method used for monitoring was the variable transect (Mostacedo \u0026amp; Fredericksen \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2000\u003c/span\u003e), a variation of transects used for rapid vegetation assessments, considering plants or plant classes separated by life forms (trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, epiphytes). Preliminary samplings were made in each location to collect and identify the species present in the area. Experimental samplings were performed in each location by three persons walking along the rocky sector of the beach, covering the infralittoral and mesolittoral zones. A checklist was used to register the presence of the algae species.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlastic labeled containers with screw-on wide-mouth lids, with a capacity of one liter (1 L), were used to collect the samples in seawater and fixed with 8% formaldehyde solution (Smithsonian Institution, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). A Canon EOS Rebel T100 DSLR 18MP camera was used to take images of the species found.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, the collected samples were taken to the biology laboratory of the Faculty of Life Sciences and Technologies for analysis. In the laboratory, the samples were selected and cleaned using distilled water and brushes to remove encrusting residues or any impurities that could cause algae deterioration. A LABOMED V2.7 binocular stereo microscope was used to capture images. Various electronic resources were used as didactic support for taxonomic identification of the algae, including (AlgaeBase \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), and INTKEY version 1.2 (Le\u0026oacute;n \u0026Aacute;lvarez et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bromatological analyses were performed in three algae species, \u003cem\u003eUlva lactuca, Padina pavonica\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eCaulerpa racemosa\u003c/em\u003e, due to their abundance in the location studied and their potential use as described in previous studies (Naylor et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Msuya et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Bachoo et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). For the bromatological analyses, 200 g of random samples were collected per species from the Punta Blanca area between August 2018 and July 2019. A spatula and knife were used for extraction to avoid damaging the morphological structures of the algae. The samples were hermetically stored in Ziploc bags with filtered seawater to maintain freshness and transport the organisms to the laboratory for analysis.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bromatological analyses were conducted at the laboratory of the Research Institute of the Technical University of Manab\u0026iacute; in Portoviejo. The samples were washed with distilled water to remove epiphytic fauna. The analyses were performed following standardized protein techniques like the Kjeldahl method, as described in method 928.08 of AOAC (AOAC 1990; AOAC 1997), lipids using the Soxhlet method (Delgado \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e), moisture, and ashes using the gravimetric method (Garc\u0026iacute;a Mart\u0026iacute;nez and Fern\u0026aacute;ndez Segovia 2012).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe analyses of mineral concentrations of the algae were performed at the Agrocalidad Processing Center in Tumbaco, Quito. The samples were dehydrated in an oven at 105\u0026deg;C for 4h (Ru\u0026iacute;z-Navarro et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003ea) and the concentration of Ca, Cu, K, Fe, Mg, Mn, and Zn were then carried out by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (Vara and Huerta \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e) in triplicate samples for each algae species.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWeekly sea surface data for the study locations were obtained from IOA (2024) and average monthly values were estimated from August 2018 to July 2019.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the coliform analysis, samples of seawater surrounding the study area were collected using labeled 250 mL glass jars. The sampling was performed at a depth of 1 m in the water column, with two (2) replicas for each monitoring. The samples were sent to the Oils and Fats (A\u0026amp;G) laboratory of La Fabril S.A., Manta, Manab\u0026iacute;, for processing. Regarding heavy metals, 30 g of the two most representative families (Ulvaceae and Dictyotaceae) were sent to the spectrophotometry laboratory at the University of Guayaquil for analysis, according to Perkin Elmer (1996).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStatistical tests and graphical analyses were processed in RStudio (Verzani \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). Additionally, the following packages were used: vegan (Oksanen et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e), kableExtra (Zhu et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e), BiodiversityR (Kindt and Kindt \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e), ggplot2 (Wickham et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), adespatial (Dray et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e), plyr (Wickham and Wickham \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), RColorBrewer (Neuwirth \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e), tidyverse (Wickham \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e), sf (Pebesma and Bivand \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), SpadeR (Chao et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), Inext (Haddon \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), extrafont (Chang \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e), ggthemes (Arnold \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), MQMF (Haddon \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), MESS (Ekstr\u0026oslash;m \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), cluster (Maechler et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e), factoextra (Kassambara and Mundt \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e), ggforce (Pedersen et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), dplyr (Wickham and Wickham \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), reshape2 (Wickham and Wickham \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), treemapify (Wilkins \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), GGally (Schloerke et al. \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Pearson correlation coefficient was used to compare the association between SST and bromatological parameters.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eA total of 18 species of marine macroalgae were reported in the three (3) study areas (Punta Blanca, Barbasquillo, and Puerto Cayo), located in the central part of Manab\u0026iacute;, Ecuador (Fig. 1). During the sampling period, it was observed that the phyla Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta each recorded six species, respectively (Table 1).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 1.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eSpecies and number of observations of marine algae recorded from June to November 2023 in the central coast of Manab\u0026iacute;.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"662\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 104px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePhylum\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOrder\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFamily\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSpecies\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"3\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 208px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e# Recorded observations\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePunta Blanca\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBeach\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBarbasquillo\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBeach\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePuerto Cayo\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBeach\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"6\" style=\"width: 104px;\"\u003eChlorophyta\u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUlvales\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUlvaceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUlva lactuca\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUlva intestinalis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"3\" style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBryopsidales\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCaulerpaceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCaulerpa racemosa\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCaulerpa sertularioides\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCodiaceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCodium tomentosum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCladophorales\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCladophoraceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eChaetomorpha a\u0026eacute;rea\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"6\" style=\"width: 104px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOchrophyta\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEctocarpales\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eScytosiphonaceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eColpomenia sinuosa\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eChnoospora minima\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"3\" style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDictyotales\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"3\" style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDictyotaceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDictyota dichotoma\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePadina pavonica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLobophora variegata\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFucales\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSargassaceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSargassum fluitans\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"6\" style=\"width: 104px;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style='color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: \"Times New Roman\"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;'\u003eRhodophyta\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCorallinales\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCorallinaceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJania rubens\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGigartinales\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCaulacanthaceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCaulacanthus ustulatus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNemaliales\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLiagoraceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLiagora ceranoides\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGalaxauraceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGalaxaura rugosa\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCeramiales\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRhodomelaceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAcanthophora muscoides\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 113px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCeramiaceae\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 151px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCeramium rubrum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 94px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 57px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLobophora variegata\u003c/em\u003e (Lv), belonging to the class Phaeophyta of the phylum Ochrophyta, recorded 41 sightings, making it the most observed species across the three sampling areas (Fig. 2). \u003cem\u003ePadina pavonica\u003c/em\u003e (Pp), from the class Phaeophyta, ranked second with a record of 37 observations, followed by \u003cem\u003eColpomenia sinuosa\u003c/em\u003e in the third place with 28 sightings across the three zones. In the same way, the phyllum Chlorophyta, with the species \u003cem\u003eCaulerpa\u003c/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eracemosa\u003c/em\u003e (26 sightings) and \u003cem\u003eC. sertularioides\u003c/em\u003e (21 records), occupied fifth and sixth place, respectively. However, \u003cem\u003eCaulacanthus ustulatus\u003c/em\u003e (20 observations), belonging to the phylum Rhodophyta, ranked seventh among the total species reported in \u003cem\u003eLobophora variegata\u003c/em\u003e this study (Fig. 2 and 3a). Finally, the algae with the fewest sightings was \u003cem\u003eCeramium rubrum\u003c/em\u003e, with one observation recorded in January 2024, identified in the Puerto Cayo area (Table 1).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe spatial distribution of macroalgae (Fig. 3b) showed that 54.4% of 285 sightings were found in Punta Blanca, 22.5% in Barbasquillo, and 23.2 % in Puerto Cayo. The Phylum Chlorophyta represented 31% of the species, the Ochrophyta 48%, and Rhodophyta 21%. The dominance of Ochrophyta was observed in the three locations (39% in Punta Blanca, 59% in Barbasquillo and Puerto Cayo). The most representative species were \u003cem\u003eLobophora variegata\u003c/em\u003e (Lv-41), \u003cem\u003ePadina pavonica\u003c/em\u003e (Pp-37), and \u003cem\u003eColpomenia sinuosa\u003c/em\u003e (Csn-28), which belong to the phylum Ochrophyta (class Phaeophyta). It is evident that the highest presence was observed in the central-northern region of Ecuador (Fig. 3a).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRegarding the abundance of the observed species, there was greater representation in the Punta Blanca area of the algae \u003cem\u003eCaulacanthus ustulatus\u003c/em\u003e (Cus), \u003cem\u003eCaulerpa racemosa\u003c/em\u003e (Cvu), \u003cem\u003eLobophora variegata\u003c/em\u003e (Lv), and \u003cem\u003ePadina pavonica\u003c/em\u003e (Pp). Meanwhile, for Barbasquillo, the larger number of records was for \u003cem\u003ePadina pavonica\u003c/em\u003e (Pp) and \u003cem\u003eLobophora variegata\u003c/em\u003e (Lv). The latter was the predominant species in the Puerto Cayo area (Fig. 4).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe phylum with the highest percentage representation was Ochrophyta (Fig. 5b), with the species \u003cem\u003eLobophora variegata\u003c/em\u003e (14.4%), \u003cem\u003ePadina pavonica\u003c/em\u003e (13%), \u003cem\u003eColpomenia sinuosa\u003c/em\u003e (9.8%), and \u003cem\u003eCaulerpa racemosa\u003c/em\u003e (9.1%) being the most prevalent in the study areas (Fig. 5a).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe frequentist analysis suggests that the silhouette index fits more closely with the Kulczynski distance and the Ward.D2 method, showing a value of 0.626 for both criteria respectively. This indicates that the Kulczynski distance globally fits the model, and also establishes that the Ward.D2 method allows for a close relationship both within families and species, compared to the ecosystem in which they interact. Therefore, the quality of the formed clusters represents the separation of the cluster from other groups of plant species (Fig. 6).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe moisture percentage recorded for the species Caulerpa racemosa showed high values during 2018, with September (94.88%), October (95.60%), and December (96.84%) being notable months. For Padina pavonica, moisture percentages increased during October (82.81%), December (81.49%), and January (81.89%). However, Ulva lactuca exhibited elevated moisture levels during August (87.69%), October (86.12%), and December (90.36%) of 2018, as well as January (80.78%) and July (82.28%) of 2019 (Fig. 7a).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe percentage concentration of ash obtained during the sampling showed a significant increase in September (20.86%) 2018 and March (22.59%) 2019 for Padina pavonica. However, during 2019, high indicators were recorded for Ulva lactuca in March (64.89%) and May (62.49%), while the highest percentage values for Caulerpa racemosa were recorded in March (33.98%) and May (30.41%) 2019, respectively (Fig. 7b).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe lipid concentration in the species Padina pavonica and Ulva lactuca reflected values \u0026lt; 1% on a dry weight basis throughout the 12 months of sampling. The species Caulerpa racemosa showed growth in lipid percentage in 2018, with values of 0.95% in September, an accelerated increase in November (19.10%) and December (59.70%), and a sustained decrease during the months of 2019 (Fig. 8a).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe protein concentration in marine macroalgae indicates that Ulva lactuca maintained a higher percentage of protein concentration, exceeding values above 15% from August to October 2018 and March 2019. However, a sustained decrease in protein percentage was recorded from November to December 2018 and January 2019, with a slight recovery observed in June (8.85%) and July (10.41%) of 2019. In contrast, Padina pavonica and Caulerpa racemosa reached a maximum protein concentration of 5.5% during the sampling period, placing both species with the lowest protein concentration indicators among the analyzed plant organisms (Fig. 8b).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWithin the mineral analyses conducted during the study months across the three species of marine macroalgae, high averages for Mn were observed, with P. pavonica being the marine plant with the highest increase in this indicator. Additionally, the concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Ca showed sustained values throughout the evaluation period. However, the mineral micronutrients with the lowest values were K, Fe, and Mg for the reported species (Table 2).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 2.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eAverage concentration of minerals in the reported algal species from the intertidal zone of Punta Blanca, Manab\u0026iacute;, Ecuador, between August 2018 and July 2019.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"662\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 14.3288%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSpecies\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.463%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCa (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 10.1056%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMg (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.3122%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eK (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.463%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFe (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 13.4238%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMn (mg/kg)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 13.7255%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCu (mg/kg)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 14.178%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eZn (mg/kg)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 14.3288%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eC. racemosa\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.463%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8,3 \u0026plusmn; 1,8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 10.1056%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0,5 \u0026plusmn; 0,1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.3122%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0,3 \u0026plusmn; 0,1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.463%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0,6 \u0026plusmn; 0,3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 13.4238%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e84,9 \u0026plusmn; 30,1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 13.7255%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e34,2 \u0026plusmn; 22,6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 14.178%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e20,6 \u0026plusmn; 12,6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 14.3288%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eP. pavonica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.463%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9,4 \u0026plusmn; 1,4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 10.1056%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1,2 \u0026plusmn; 0,4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.3122%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2,2 \u0026plusmn; 1,2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.463%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1,1 \u0026plusmn; 0,5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 13.4238%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e169,8 \u0026plusmn; 30,0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 13.7255%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e14,2 \u0026plusmn; 20,5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 14.178%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e41 \u0026plusmn; 25,8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 14.3288%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eU. lactuca\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.463%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10,4 \u0026plusmn; 1,7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 10.1056%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1,9 \u0026plusmn; 0,7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.3122%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0,5 \u0026plusmn; 0,1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 11.463%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0,8 \u0026plusmn; 0,3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 13.4238%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e116,2 \u0026plusmn; 41,2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 13.7255%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12,8 \u0026plusmn; 19,8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 14.178%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e22 \u0026plusmn; 12,1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRegarding the reported heavy metal values, we can see that the two representative samples analyzed from the Ulvaceae and Dictyotaceae families show cadmium values of 2.3 and 3.81, while for lead, the values are 0.54 and 7.50, respectively (Table 3).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 3.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eHeavy metal concentration (mean \u0026plusmn; SD as mg/100 g) in algae samples from Punta Blanca locality, Manab\u0026iacute;, Ecuador.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"331\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMetal\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 242px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSpecies\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUlva lactuca\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 152px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLobophora variegata\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCadmium\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2,3 \u0026plusmn;0,13\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 152px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3,81 \u0026plusmn;1,63\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLead\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0,54 \u0026plusmn;0,15\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 152px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7,50 \u0026plusmn;0,79\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the analysis of seawater in two of the three monitored areas, it is evident that both Barbasquillo Beach and Punta Blanca reported values for mesophilic aerobes of 5.0 \u0026times; 10\u0026sup1; and 7.0 \u0026times; 10\u0026sup1; CFU/ml, respectively. Additionally, for these same locations, total coliforms were analyzed, yielding results of 18 and 113 CFU per 100 ml, respectively, while fecal coliforms for these two areas recorded values of less than 1 CFU/100 ml, respectively.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eA total of eighteen macroalgae species were reported, with each phylum\u0026mdash;Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta\u0026mdash;having 6 representative species, respectively. This study shows 18 registered species, with Ochrophyta, particularly the class Phaeophyceae (60%), being the most predominant phylum, followed by Chlorophyta (54%) and Rhodophyta (42%). It is evident that the highest presence of algae was observed in the central-northern region of Manab\u0026iacute; province. These results are close to those reported by Bashir et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) in the Sindh coast, Pakistan, between February 2020 and January 2021, where they recorded a total of 64 species, with Phaeophyceae (45%) being the most predominant, followed by Rhodophyta (34%) and Chlorophyta (20%). However, there is a contrast with data recorded by Arhas et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) on the coasts of Aceh, Indonesia, where a total of 32 algae species were exhibited, distributed among 11 individuals of the class Chlorophyceae, 11 of Phaeophyceae, and 10 of Rhodophyceae. According to (Narv\u0026aacute;ez \u003cspan citationid=\"CR59\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e), this suggests that the equitable distribution of species among the three phyla indicates that the thermal conditions of the region are suitable for a balanced diversity of macroalgae. When compared with studies in regions with different temperatures, a pattern of species distribution is observed that could be characteristic of areas with stable and warm temperatures, such as Manab\u0026iacute; in Ecuador. Additionally, Gonz\u0026aacute;lez-Etchebehere et al. (2017) indicated that changes in species composition throughout the year and habitat characteristics are key factors in the distribution of macroalgae. In the case of this study, an equitable distribution among the three phyla was observed, but with higher representativeness for the class Phaeophyceae, or brown algae. These analyses contribute to the understanding of biodiversity and the ecology of macroalgae in different ecosystems and provide a basis for future research and conservation strategies. The data support that the central region of Manab\u0026iacute; is predominantly represented by the phylum Ochrophyta, class Phaeophyceae, with some reported species. This complex interaction between environmental factors present in each location results from the habitat characteristics and biological dynamics of each region, with their specific conditions influencing the distribution and variability of algae species worldwide (Maciel-Mata et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRegarding abundance, the species \u003cem\u003eCaulacanthus ustulatus\u003c/em\u003e was the most representative marine plant in the Punta Blanca area, \u003cem\u003ePadina pavonica\u003c/em\u003e in Barbasquillo, and \u003cem\u003eLobophora variegata\u003c/em\u003e in Puerto Cayo. However, results such as those reported by Kepel et al. (2019) in the Minahasa Peninsula, northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, contrast with this study, as they recorded a total of 35 different algae species in the study area, with the most abundant in all three stations being \u003cem\u003eAmphiroa fragilissima, Gracilaria edulis\u003c/em\u003e (red algae), and \u003cem\u003eBornetella sphaerica\u003c/em\u003e (green algae). These findings support the idea that certain marine areas or regions may experience high primary productivity due to the presence of nutrients in the water and their mixing, which, along with biological activity, creates a nutrient-rich environment for marine organisms. Additionally, it is noted that ocean currents in certain regions can help distribute larvae, spores, and micronutrients, facilitating recruitment, coral growth, and a favorable environment for macroalgae species (Contreras-Espinosa et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e). The changes in the currents affecting the coastal areas and the load of algae spores caried by them, can originate variation in the richness of the macroalgae species observed in the localities. During the development of the samplings for the bromatological analyses of the present study, there were moments when the availability of \u003cem\u003eU. lactuca\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eP. pavonica\u003c/em\u003e were scarce in some locations.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results showed that \u003cem\u003eL. variegata\u003c/em\u003e (Lv), belonging to the class Phaeophyceae and the phylum Ochrophyta, recorded a total of 41 sightings, ranking first among the three sampling areas. A comprehensive morphological study conducted by Torres Conde et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR75\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) from 2011 to 2019 in Cuba contrasts with the results of this study, where six species of the genus \u003cem\u003eLobophora\u003c/em\u003e were found, including a first record of \u003cem\u003eL. guadeloupensis\u003c/em\u003e, expanding the algae's distribution range. Additionally, Mart\u0026iacute;nez \u003cem\u003eet al\u003c/em\u003e. (2023) confirmed the presence of \u003cem\u003eL. variegata\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eL. dispersa\u003c/em\u003e, with the latter being reported for the first time on Mexican coasts. Robertson and Cramer (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR68\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e) argued that the combination of warm temperatures, adequate salinity, good light penetration, hard substrates, moderate sea currents, and nutrient availability create a favorable environment for the growth of \u003cem\u003eLobophora\u003c/em\u003e spp. The presence of these environmental factors in coastal areas and reefs with lower temperatures facilitates the proliferation and development of these brown algae, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical seas worldwide (Mart\u0026iacute;nez et al. 2023). Therefore, ocean currents connecting the Greater Caribbean and South America are vital for the distribution and transport of nutrients. These dynamics not only affect marine biodiversity and primary productivity in these regions but also influence fisheries and coastal ecosystems (United Nations \u003cspan citationid=\"CR77\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe frequentist analysis suggests that the silhouette index fits most closely with the Kulczynski distance and the Ward.D2 method, showing a value of 0.626 for both criteria. Therefore, the quality of the formed clusters represents the separation of the cluster from other groups of plant species. This coincides with the study conducted by Mart\u0026iacute;nez-Daranas et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e) on the southwestern platform of Cuba, where cluster analysis (CLUSTER) showed differences in species composition and their dry biomass (DB) in the 24 collected samples, which were organized into three groups (post hoc SIMPROF test). Non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS) confirmed the structure proposed by the cluster analysis (CLUSTER) with three well-defined groups. Rangel-Ch and Vel\u0026aacute;zquez,(1997) stated that this type of frequentist analysis is used to infer properties of a population from a sample. In the context of marine algae, this type of analysis can be useful for studying the health of a particular marine ecosystem, identifying distribution patterns, and assessing the impact of environmental factors such as pollution or climate change. Additionally, frequentist analysis can help to establish relationships between variables, such as the relationship between water temperature and the abundance of certain algae species.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe percentage of moisture recorded for \u003cem\u003eC. racemosa\u003c/em\u003e showed values above 94% during 2018, peaking from September to December. For \u003cem\u003eP. pavonica\u003c/em\u003e, moisture content increases were observed in October, December, and January, remaining above 81%. In contrast, \u003cem\u003eU. lactuca\u003c/em\u003e showed elevated peaks (between 80% and 90%) during August, October, and December 2018, including January and July 2019. In contrast to the data reported in this study, Castro-Gonz\u0026aacute;lez et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e) observed moisture values not exceeding 11% in \u003cem\u003eUlva\u003c/em\u003e spp., \u003cem\u003eCaulerpa\u003c/em\u003e spp., and \u003cem\u003ePadina\u003c/em\u003e spp. Additionally, a study by Armas et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) on the proximate composition of Caribbean Sea collected in the Gulf of Cariaco, Venezuela, reported maximum moisture values of 54% for \u003cem\u003ePadina boergesenii\u003c/em\u003e, which are below the values reported in this study. Gonz\u0026aacute;lez-Etchebehere et al. (2017) explained that moisture content in marine macroalgae is essential for maintaining their structure and form, metabolic processes (photosynthesis, respiration, etc.), adaptation to manage variability in salinity and water temperature. However, being rich in water, their nutrient content such as proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals can vary depending on the species and environmental conditions. In some cases, this component can also be a disadvantage for conservation and storage in production processes.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe ash content (dry weight) observed during sampling showed a notable increase in September (20.86%) 2018 and March (22.59%) 2019 for \u003cem\u003eP. pavonica\u003c/em\u003e. However, in March (64.89%) and May (62.49%) of the same year, high indicators were recorded for \u003cem\u003eU. lactuca\u003c/em\u003e, while the highest ash content recorded for \u003cem\u003eC. racemosa\u003c/em\u003e was in March (33.98%) and May (30.41%) 2019, respectively. These results align with those reported by Frikha et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) and Aguilera-Morales et al, (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e), who evaluated the chemical composition in \u003cem\u003eU. rigida\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eU. lactuca\u003c/em\u003e, reporting an ash content between 11.35% and 33.07%. However, the percentage described by Kumar et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e), who studied three species of \u003cem\u003eCaulerpa\u003c/em\u003e on the coast of India, contrasts with the results of this study, showing ash concentrations ranging from 24.2\u0026ndash;33.7% (dry weight).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNiel (1975) stated that the mineral content in terms of ash proportion ranges between 18% and 30% in brown algae and around 26% in red algae. This analysis is important because it allows for the evaluation of the mineral composition of algae, which can have implications for nutritional value and their use in various applications such as food, dietary supplements, or fertilizers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe lipid concentration in \u003cem\u003eP. pavonica\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eU. lactuca\u003c/em\u003e reflected values\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;1% in dry weight throughout the 12 months of sampling, indicating that the total content of fatty acids for the genus \u003cem\u003eUlva\u003c/em\u003e may be relatively low. Records of Aguilera-Morales et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e) agreed with the values recorded in this study, ranging from 0.02\u0026ndash;0.28%, which aligns with results obtained by Wong and Cheung (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR86\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2001\u003c/span\u003e), who reported lipid values ranging between 0.34% and 0.72% in some green algae. These results suggest that the macroalgae, in general, have a low lipid content, which could influence their nutritional value and their potential applications in different sectors.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe protein content in \u003cem\u003eU. lactuca\u003c/em\u003e was highest in August (20.24%), while \u003cem\u003eC. racemosa\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eP. pavonica\u003c/em\u003e showed peaks in August (15.65%) and September (19.71%), respectively. The protein content reported in this study is consistent with values found by Khan et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) in species of \u003cem\u003eUlva intesinalis\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ePadina tetrastromatica\u003c/em\u003e from Bay of Bengala, Bangladesh, whose protein were 18,35% and 8,7%, respectively. Kusnadi et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) in Southeast Mollucas Island found crude protein contents of 10,09% and 3,48% in \u003cem\u003eUlva\u003c/em\u003e sp, and \u003cem\u003ePadina\u003c/em\u003e sp., respectively. Comparable protein values were observed by Ganesh Temkar et al. (2019), who reported protein levels ranging from 6.91\u0026ndash;16.85% in various green algae of India, while \u003cem\u003ePadina\u003c/em\u003e spp. showed values between 8.7% and 19.6%. Marsham et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e) reported protein contents of \u003cem\u003eU. lactuca\u003c/em\u003e of 29% while Wong and Sheum (2001) reported for the same species a protein content of 7.1%. In general, reported protein contents of red and green seaweeds are in the range 10\u0026ndash;30% dry matter (Burtin \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e). However, the protein concentration in seaweeds varies according to several factors, such as species, environmental conditions and it may also be influenced on the applied method of protein determination (Louren\u0026ccedil;o et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e). The high protein content of some macroalgae, particularly \u003cem\u003eUlva\u003c/em\u003e spp. or Fucus spp. (Misurcova \u003cspan citationid=\"CR53\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e), make them suitable as food sources for human consumption or raw material for dry feed production. However, the high seasonal variability of the protein content observed in the present study, and also reported by Galland-Irmouli et al. (1999) and Fleurence (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e), among other authors, introduces uncertainty in their use as stable raw material, in comparison with fish or soybean meal.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe mineral content of the three species showed variability, with \u003cem\u003eC. racemosa\u003c/em\u003e exhibiting high levels of magnesium and calcium (above 10%), while \u003cem\u003eP. pavonica\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eU. lactuca\u003c/em\u003e had more balanced distributions of calcium and potassium. These results are similar to those reported by Cota-Ortega et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) and Vishnupriya Sowjanya and Sekhar (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR80\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e), who observed that macroalgae are important sources of essential minerals, including calcium, magnesium, and potassium. This mineral composition can influence their suitability for various applications, such as in human nutrition or as fertilizers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results of this study contribute to the understanding of the nutritional and ecological importance of macroalgae species in the coastal areas of Ecuador. By providing detailed information on the species composition, abundance, and biochemical content, this research supports the development of sustainable management practices and conservation strategies for marine resources. Further research is needed to explore the potential applications of these macroalgae in different sectors and to assess the impact of environmental changes on their distribution and composition in the entire coastal area of Ecuador.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRegarding the values ​​of heavy metals reported in this preliminary study, it was observed that the two representative samples analyzed from the families Ulvaceae (Chlorophyta) and Dictyotaceae (Phaeophyceae) showed values ​​for cadmium of 2,3 to 0,54 mg/kg, while lead values were between 3,8 to 7,5 mg/kg, respectively. The cadmium content of both algae species is higher than the maximum allowable limits by national and international standards. Those of lead, are above the Ecuadorian standard, but below the France standard. Algae are not currently used for human consumption in Ecuador. If the heavy metal content shown in this study is representative of the other algae found in the coastline of the country, their use for human consumption would require a previous detoxification process with protocols to be developed. Ru\u0026iacute;z-Navarro et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR70\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) carried out a toxicological analysis in Spain on algae from the Asian and the European Union coast, where they observed that of the 7 species of algae, \u003cem\u003eU. rigida\u003c/em\u003e showed average concentrations of 0.30 (Cd) and 0.17 (Pb) mg/kg, suggesting that algae bioaccumulate heavy metals to levels exceeding the maximum permissible limit according to national Ecuadorian and international standards (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). However, the intake of toxic metals (1.18 \u0026micro;g Cd/day and 0.68 \u0026micro;g Pb/day) derived from the consumption of 4 g/day of algae, does not represent a toxicological risk for consumers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaximum Permissible Limits (MPL) of Heavy Metals (Cd and Pb) reported in National and International Standards (mg/kg).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eParameters\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePb\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStandards\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEcuador\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrance\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCodex\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ealimentarius\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEcuador\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrance\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCodex\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ealimentarius\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLeafy Vegetables/\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eseaweed\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0,05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0,5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0,2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0,01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5,0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0,3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSources: Ecuador: Su\u0026aacute;rez (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR74\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e); France: Ru\u0026iacute;z-Navarro et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR70\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e); Codex alimentarius (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e).\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the microbiological analysis of seawater from two of the three monitored areas, low values were found in both sampled areas, Barbasquillo and Punta Blanca, with mesophilic aerobe values of 5.0 \u0026times; 10\u0026sup1; and 7.0 \u0026times; 10\u0026sup1; CFU/ml, respectively. Additionally, for the same locations, total coliforms were analyzed, yielding results of 18 and 113 CFU/100ml. Fecal coliforms recorded values of less than 1 for both areas. These values contrast with those reported by Cortez et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e), who assessed bacterial load of mesophilic aerobes, total/fecal coliforms, and enterococci at Chichiriviche beaches, Falc\u0026oacute;n, Venezuela, and the effect of marine water concentrations on bacterial densities. Bacterial load increased between 20 and 47 times when culture media were supplemented with seawater. Differences in bacterial loads between high-density months (HDM) and low-density months (LDM) for mesophilic aerobes, total coliforms, and fecal coliforms were statistically significant (P\u0026thinsp;\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;0.05). According to Font (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) and Mohamed et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e), the quality of marine water in countries such as Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Spain, and the European Union is a crucial issue due to high levels of fecal coliforms, caused by high population density and industrial activity in various regions. Recovering marine waters with high coliform levels is a complex challenge requiring a multifaceted approach to address pollution, improve water quality, and restore the ecological health of the marine environment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConsidering the protein and mineral contents of some of the macroalgae evaluated in this study, like \u003cem\u003eUlva lactuca\u003c/em\u003e, and the variation in their seasonal availability in the coastal areas, suggest that their cultivation could be an opportunity to assure a reliable biomass supply for their economic utilization. The cultivation of the foreign Rhodophyta species, \u003cem\u003eKappaphycus alvarezii\u003c/em\u003e, was initiated in 2015 in southern Ecuador, and offers the possibility of using similar techniques to diversify the species under culture.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn conclusion, it was observed that in the central zone of Manab\u0026iacute; there is a representative quantity of marine macroalgae corresponding to the three phyla: Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta, with a total record of 18 species. The highest number of species was observed in the Punta Blanca area (central northern Manab\u0026iacute;). It is important to note that there are no reports for these areas to date, making this work a source of new macroalgal species records in the study area. Regarding the bromatological parameters obtained in this study, the importance of the results should be considered as an indicator of the nutritional quality of some algal species, in addition to the high content of bioactive compounds and the importance of considering ecotoxicological parameters such as heavy metals present in marine plant samples. These criteria are indicators in determining the indices and health status of an ecosystem. Finally, the biodiversity of algae on Ecuadorian coasts showed a dynamic behavior that responded to local conditions and temporal cycles where sightings occur. Substrates define groupings, but many of these groupings are primarily determined by the oceanographic conditions of the environment. Considering the protein and mineral contents of some of the macroalgae evaluated in this study, and the variation in their seasonal availability in the coastal areas, their cultivation could offer opportunities to assure a reliable biomass supply for their economic utilization.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003ch2\u003eConflict of Interest\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn accordance with the ethical principles of this research, the authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest that could influence the results presented in this work. The authors conducted the research with their own funding and the support of public and private institutions, without it affecting the processing and interpretation of the data.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eJNE: Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Visualization, Writing-original draft, Writing-review and editing.KPS: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, VisualizationJBM: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis Investigation, Methodology, Software, Writing-original draft, Writing-review and editingJAM: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Visualization.LQL: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Visualization, Writing-original draft, Writing-review and editing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo Eloy Alfaro Secular University of Manabi, whose support made the execution of this work possible through the sabbatical leave granted to J. P. Napa Espa\u0026ntilde;a. To Joan Rodriguez from the Technical University of Manabi for support in bromatological analyses at the Chemistry Laboratory of the Research Institute; Agrocalidad, for support in the mineral content analyses; Dariel Intriago from La Fabril SA, Manta, for helping in the microbiological analyses; and Mariuxi Mero de Egas from the University of Guayaquil, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Spectrophotometry Laboratory, for support with heavy metal analyses.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAFABA (2010) Asociaci\u0026oacute;n Ecuatoriana de Fabricantes de Alimentos Balanceados para Animales. https://afaba.net/\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAguilera-Morales M, Casas-Valdez M, Carrillo-Dom\u0026iacute;nguez S, Gonz\u0026aacute;lez-Acosta B, P\u0026eacute;rez-Gil F (2005) Chemical composition and microbiological assays of marine algae \u003cem\u003eEnteromorpha\u003c/em\u003e spp. as a potential food source. 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The purpose of this study was to determine the richness of marine macroalgae species along the coastal profile of the central zone of Manabí, Ecuador, their bromatology, and presence of heavy metals, as a contribution to the knowledge of the nutritional potential of these species. Three zones were selected for their composition: Punta Blanca-Jaramijó, Barbasquillo-Manta and Puerto Cayo, where algal species samples were collected according to established protocols. Monthly bromatological analyses of three species, \u003cem\u003eUlva Lactuca, Padina pavonica \u003c/em\u003eand\u003cem\u003e Caulerpa racemosa,\u003c/em\u003e were performed from August 2018-July 2019. A total of 18 macroalgae species were identified, belonging to three phyla: Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta, with \u003cem\u003eLobophora variegata\u003c/em\u003e (Ochrophyta: Phaeophyta) being the most frequently recorded species. Regarding the bromatological analyses, humidity and ash contents varied in a cyclical and inverse way, with higher humidity values from August to December. Lipid content was ≤ 3% while protein content in \u003cem\u003eUlva lactuca\u003c/em\u003evaried in the range 17.5 – 0.6%, while the other species between 5 – 0.33%. A high concentration of Mn was observed among minerals, providing guidelines for future beneficial research. The ecotoxicological tests (heavy metals) showed values above the permissible normal indices, highlighting the need to consider these results for the conservation and recovery of contaminated areas.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Bromatological Analysis of Marine Macroalgae Present in the Central Coast of Manabí, Ecuador","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-11-13 17:12:24","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5220662/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"52a67b67-d2e3-460e-b2e7-f7c8b94f4acf","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 13th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-01-27T12:53:42+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-11-13 17:12:24","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5220662","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5220662","identity":"rs-5220662","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}