Sargassum Tea: Its Acceptability and Quality

The acceptability and quality evaluation of Sargassum tea was studied from May 1 to April 31, 2012 to determine the most acceptable formulation of sargassum tea mixed with different flavorings (lemon grass, pandan and sweet basil leaves and pure sargassum), chemical, nutritional, microbial and heavy metals component of the best treatment were analyzed. The product were prepared in 2 grams tea bags and the different treatments were subjected to acceptability test by 60 taste panelist. The most accepted formulation was submitted for microbial and chemical analysis to Food and Nutrition Research Institute, DOST Taguig, while the heavy metals content was analyzed by the Regional Standard and Testing Laboratory, DOST Region 7, Cebu, Philppines. Results of the analysis showed that the best Sargassum tea formulation was the mixture of sargassum and sweet basil leaves followed by sargassum mix with lemon grass leaves. Analysis of variance on the acceptability of sargassum tea revealed a significant difference between treatment mean and this was further analyzed using the Least Significant Different test. Results also revealed that these two formulations did not significantly differ from each other. The chemical analysis showed that per 100 grams of Sargassum tea contain 300 kcal of ene-rgy, total fat of 2.3 grams, total carbohydrates of 57.7 grams, protein of 12.1 grams and iron is 88 mg. The Sagassum tea has calcium content 7 percent, iron of 15 percent, potassium of 2 percent and vitamin A of 2 percent of recommended energy and Nutrient Intake (RENI) for males 19 years old and above. The microbiological and heavy metals content of the product have passed the standard limit for food.