Quantitative determination of glutamate in a Rhodophyceae (Chondrus crispus) and four Phaeophyceae (Fucus vesiculosus,Fucus serratus,Cystoseira elegans,Cystoseira barbata)

A study was made to find a better method of analyzing the glutamate pool in seaweeds than the use of HPLC, which provides unsatisfactory results with material rich in alginates and salts. A method recommended elsewhere (Inglis A, Bartone N, Finlayson J, 1988, J. Biochem. Biophys. Methods 15: 249–254) for physiological fluids has been assayed and improved for algal samples. It consisted of the addition of lithium acetate before the phenylisothiocyanate derivatization, omission of one drying step and extraction of the derivative with heptane before chromatographic analysis. Neither salt nor alginates interfered with analysis.