Health-promoting ingredients from four selected Azorean macroalgae

Lisete Paiva; Elisabete Lima; Ana Isabel Neto; Massimo Marcone; José Baptista

doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2016.08.007

Health-promoting ingredients from four selected Azorean macroalgae

Food Res Int. 2016 Nov;89(Pt 1):432-438. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2016.08.007. Epub 2016 Aug 10.

Authors

Lisete Paiva¹, Elisabete Lima¹, Ana Isabel Neto², Massimo Marcone³, José Baptista¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Agricultural Technology (CITA-A), Department of Technological Sciences and Development (DCTD), University of Azores, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, S. Miguel, Azores, Portugal.
² Island Aquatic Ecology, Azorean Biodiversity Group, cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Department of Biology, University of Azores, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, S. Miguel, Azores, Portugal.
³ Department of Food Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada. Electronic address: mmarcone@uoguelph.ca.

PMID: 28460935
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2016.08.007

Abstract

This study presents, for the first time, the nutritional and health promoting aspects of four selected Azorean macroalgae (Ulva compressa, Ulva rigida, Gelidium microdon and Pterocladiella capillacea) in terms of total lipids, fatty acids (FA) profile, n6/n3 and hypocholesterolemic (h)/hypercholesterolemic (H) FA ratios, minerals, total essential amino acids (AA), anti-ageing and anti-phenylketonuria AA content, coenzyme Q₁₀, α-tocopherol, total phenolics, antioxidant properties and energy value, on a dry weight basis. The results revealed low lipid content (1.02-4.32%) but significant PUFA content (29.57-69.22% of total FA), suitable FA ratios (0.48-9.49 for n6/n3 and 1.26-4.22 for h/H), balanced macromineral ratios (0.27-1.91 for Na/K and 0.15-1.07 for Ca/Mg), appreciable amount of essential AA (45.27-58.13% of total AA), high amount of anti-ageing AA, low Phe content, coenzyme Q₁₀ (1.25-8.27μg/g), α-tocopherol (2.61-9.14mg/100g), high total phenolic content (27.70-55.07mg of gallic acid equivalents/g extract), significant free radical scavenging activity (29.32-47.73%) and valuable energy content (6.80-9.80kJ/g). A regular consumption of these algae either directly or through food supplements may improve human health or may have a protective effect on some diseases and ageing process. They can also be used for producing pharmaceuticals and cosmeceuticals with potential economic value.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity; Functional foods; Gelidium microdon; Nutraceuticals; Nutrient composition; Pharmaceuticals; Pterocladiella capillacea; Seaweeds; Ulva compressa; Ulva rigida.