Aquatic Botany 65 (1999) 321–325 Proximate analysis of the flour and starch from Enhalus acoroides (L.f.) Royle seeds M. Nemesio E. Montaño ∗ , Ronald S. Bonifacio, Rowena Grace O. Rumbaoa Marine Science Institute, College of Science P.O. Box 1, University of the Philippines, 1101 Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines Abstract The seeds of the tropical seagrass Enhalus acoroides were analyzed for their nutritive components to assess their dietary value for humans. Proximate analysis of flour prepared by grinding the dried seeds gave the following results: 9.8% moisture; 8.8% protein; 0.2% fat; 72.4% carbohydrates; 2.4% crude fiber; 6.4% ash; 933 mg/kg calcium; 2392 mg/kg phosphorous; and 2813 mg/kg iron. Correspondingly, proximate analysis of the starch prepared from the flour with a 50% yield, resulted in the following: 11% moisture; 0.8% protein; 0.1% fat; 87.6% carbohydrates; 0.4% crude fiber; 0.5% ash; 320 mg/kg calcium; 210 mg/kg phosphorous and; 220 mg/kg iron. Comparison of the proximate analysis results and the calculated caloric values of the seagrass seed flour and starch showed similarity with those of terrestrial origin. ©1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Enhalus acoroides; Seagrass seed; Proximate analysis; Flour and Starch; Caloric value 1. Introduction Seagrasses can surpass the productivity of wheat, corn, rice hay and sugar beets (Rollon and Fortes, 1990). This high productivity suggests that seagrasses may be further explored to benefit humans directly as a source of food. For example, the seeds of Zostera marina were discovered to be an important traditional food source of the Seri Indians (Felger and Moser, 1973). They made flour from the seeds and sometimes enriched its flavor by mixing it with the ground seeds of the columnar cactus Pachysereus pringlei (Valencia et al., 1985). Thus, seeds of the seagrass, Enhalus acoroides,which is abundant in the Philippines, might have the same potential as that of Z. marina. Further, the seeds of this seagrass are considered edible in most parts of the Philippine areas where beds are found. The pods of ∗ Corresponding author. 0304-3770/99/$ – see front matter ©1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0304-3770(99)00049-2