Development and use of standardized white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) inoculation procedures for studies on pathogenesis and control

Development and use of standardized white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) inoculation procedures for studies on pathogenesis and contro

Microalgae as a new source of neuroprotective compounds

Although neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) mostly occur in aged people, its onset can also be triggered by excessive accumulation of metal ions, particularly copper, iron and calcium in the brain which leads to the development of Alzheimer‟s disease (AD). AD affects cognitive function in the elderly people. Therefore, there is an urgent need to search and identify new sources of anti-AD drugs from natural sources, because available drugs are aggressive and have side-effects. According to a neurotoxicology study, chelating or capturing those metals is a therapeutic solution. Interestingly, marine microalgae (MMA) are rich in several bioactive compounds with neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and others. Recently, MMA have been featured in neuronal-related diseases. This research shows bioactive compounds produced by different microalgae as a source of neuroprotective agents, in terms of copper (Cu2+CA), iron (Fe2+CA) and calcium chelating activities (Ca2+CA). Hence, nine different microalgae were procured from Necton S.A, Portugal. Three different food graded solvents namely ethyl acetate, ethanol and water were used for extraction. The ethanolic extract of Porphyridium sp. and Skeletonema costatum were the most significantly bioactive with an IC50 of 1.44 mg/mL and 1.95 mg/mL for Cu2+CA, 0.942 mg/mL and 0.883 mg/mL for Fe2+CA and 0.832 mg/mL and 1.02 mg/mL for Ca2+CA respectively. The active crude extracts were further partitioned into hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and an aqueous alcoholic by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). Hexane fractions of Porphyridium sp. and S. costatum presented high metal chelating activity with an IC50 of 0.461 mg/mL and 0.361 mg/mL for Cu2+CA, 0.292 mg/mL and 0.263 mg/mL for Fe2+CA and 0.451 mg/mL and 0.181 mg/mL for Ca2+CA respectively. In order to identify the compounds possibly responsible for the activity, the hexane fractions were analyzed by GC-MS. About 19 and 22 of compounds were in Porphyridium sp. and S. costatum identified, respectively, belonging to 4 classes of metabolites: fatty acids, sterols, alcohols and ethers. The most abundant compounds detected were long chain fatty acids and alcohols including t etrahydropyranyl ether of citronellol and 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol. The analyzed species exhibited neuroprotective activities in a concentration dependent. Their metal chelating activities proves their potential for future application as natural remedies for Alzheimer‟s disease

Marine Biotechnology: A New Vision and Strategy for Europe

Marine Board-ESF The Marine Board provides a pan-European platform for its member organisations to develop common priorities, to advance marine research, and to bridge the gap between science and policy in order to meet future marine science challenges and opportunities. The Marine Board was established in 1995 to facilitate enhanced cooperation between European marine science organisations (both research institutes and research funding agencies) towards the development of a common vision on the research priorities and strategies for marine science in Europe. In 2010, the Marine Board represents 30 Member Organisations from 19 countries. The Marine Board provides the essential components for transferring knowledge for leadership in marine research in Europe. Adopting a strategic role, the Marine Board serves its Member Organisations by providing a forum within which marine research policy advice to national agencies and to the European Commission is developed, with the objective of promoting the establishment of the European Marine Research Area

Microalgae as sustainable biofactories to produce high-value lipids: biodiversity, exploitation, and biotechnological applications

Microalgae are often called “sustainable biofactories” due to their dual potential to mitigate atmospheric carbon dioxide and produce a great diversity of high-value compounds. Nevertheless, the successful exploitation of microalgae as biofactories for industrial scale is dependent on choosing the right microalga and optimum growth conditions. Due to the rich biodiversity of microalgae, a screening pipeline should be developed to perform microalgal strain selection exploring their growth, robustness, and metabolite production. Current prospects in microalgal biotechnology are turning their focus to high-value lipids for pharmaceutic, nutraceutic, and cosmetic products. Within microalgal lipid fraction, polyunsaturated fatty acids and carotenoids are broadly recognized for their vital functions in human organisms. Microalgal-derived phytosterols are still an underexploited lipid resource despite presenting promising biological activities, including neuroprotective, anti inflammatory, anti-cancer, neuromodulatory, immunomodulatory, and apoptosis inductive effects. To modulate microalgal biochemical composition, according to the intended field of application, it is important to know the contribution of each cultivation factor, or their combined effects, for the wanted product accumulation. Microalgae have a vital role to play in future low-carbon economy. Since microalgal biodiesel is still costly, it is desirable to explore the potential of oleaginous species for its high-value lipids which present great global market prospects.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estabelecimento de microalgas como alimentos funcionais com ação antioxidante e anti-inflamatória

As doenças crónicas não-transmissíveis (DCNT), tais como doenças cardiovasculares, cancros, doenças respiratórias e diabetes, são a principal causa de mortalidade e morbilidade a nível mundial, sendo consideradas um dos maiores problemas de saúde pública da atualidade pela Organização Mundial de Saúde. Para além das DCNT estarem relacionadas com o aparecimento de diversas comorbilidades, suspeita-se que ampliem os impactos da pandemia por COVID-19, diminuindo a qualidade de vida dos infetados. A maior parte dos fatores de risco para desenvolvimento de DCNT são preveníeis e modificáveis através de mudanças de estilo de vida, como a prática de atividade física e a adoção de uma alimentação saudável. Recentemente tem-se verificado uma maior consciencialização dos consumidores relativamente ao papel da alimentação na modulação da saúde, levando à alteração nos padrões de consumo. Atualmente, os consumidores preocupados com a saúde reconhecem a alimentação saudável como um pilar da prevenção de doenças crónicas e procuram alimentos que para além do seu valor nutricional apresentem também benefícios para a sua saúde. Quando inseridos num estilo de vida saudável, os alimentos funcionais para além de fornecer macronutrientes necessários à sobrevivência, influenciam funções específicas do organismo através dos seus compostos ativos atuando a nível da promoção da saúde e/ou prevenção da doença. Para além das fontes tradicionais de compostos ativos (frutas, vegetais, cereais integrais, entre outros), a necessidade de satisfazer as expetativas dos consumidores tem estimulado a indústria alimentar a investigar fontes alternativas de alimentos funcionais. As microalgas apresentam um elevado potencial como alimentos funcionais devido ao seu perfil nutricional de boa qualidade (elevado teor de proteínas, minerais, vitaminas, ácido gordos polinsaturados, entre outros) e abundância de compostos como atividades biológicas benéficas para o seu humano (atividade antibacteriana, antioxidante anti tumoral, antifúngica, antivírica, anti inflamatória, entre outros). Para além de taxa de crescimento elevada e baixo custo de produção, as algas podem ser induzidas a produzir compostos bioativos de valor acrescido específicos, por manipulação das condições de cultivo. Compostos com atividade antioxidante e anti-inflamatória são de particular interesse, uma vez que o dano oxidativo prolongado e inflamação crónica estão na base da maior parte das patologias.Recently, consumers have become more aware of the relationship between health and nutrition, recognizing healthy diets as cornerstones for health promotion and disease prevention, demanding and seeking functional foods. Functional foods not only provide nutritional value but also promote healthy aging and prevent diseases due to their various biological properties (e.g., antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumorigenic). Microalgae represent a promising opportunity as functional food due to their production of valuable bioactive ingredients, with several health-promoting effects, including anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anti-cancer effects. The aim of this study was to assess the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential from bioactive compounds present in the extracts from 3 microalgal species (Tisochrysis lutea, Tetraselmis chui, Tetraselmis striata CTP4) and perform a preliminary phytochemical analysis on the most bioactive extracts. Antioxidant activity was determined via DPPH, ABTS, copper chelating, iron chelating and ferrous reducing activity assays. Extracts with highest overall antioxidant activity were identified as ethanolic extracts of Tisochrysis lutea, Tetraselmis chui and Tetraselmis striata CTP4 and hexane Tetraselmis striata CTP4 extract. Additionally, effects of different extraction techniques on yield and bioactivity of Tetraselmis striata CTP4 extracts were investigated. These included milling, which had best yields and antioxidant activity comparing with automated fast solvent extraction and microwave assisted extraction. Anti-inflammatory activity assays were performed regarding ACE and COX inhibitory activity. The highest anti-inflammatory activity was observed for the ethanolic extract of Tetraselmis chui (5.80% for ACE inhibition and 32.2 ± 7.69% COX inhibition) followed by ethanolic T. lutea extract (2.90% for ACE inhibition and 44.5 ± 3.70% COX inhibition). Their phytochemical screening identified palmitic, myristic and stearic acids as the most abundant compounds. The proximate composition of Tisochrysis lutea revealed high fiber and mineral content. Overall, this thesis demonstrated that some of the analyzed algae could have several bioactive ingredients with potential applications as functional food. This study is a part of the Algae4IBD project, that intends to develop commercial functional food products for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) prevention and treatment using aquatic natural biological resource

Efecto de la cantidad de biomasa algal y tiempo de secado por ventana refractante sobre sus características fisicoquímicas de spirulina sp. deshidratada

Se evaluó el efecto de la cantidad de la biomasa algal de Spirulina sp. cosechada (10 a 30 g) y el tiempo de secado (10 a 30 min) por ventana refractante, fijándose como el mejor contenido de humedad aproximadamente 5%, con el mayor contenido de proteína y un adecuado contenido de ceniza, que no sobrepasen de 10%. Se utilizó un Diseño Compuesto Central Rotacional y Metodología de Superficie de Respuesta para once tratamientos experimentales. El cultivo se realizó en un fotobiorreactor de canal de bucle cerrado-abierto a la atmosfera iluminado con luz LED con fotoperiodo 12 h de luz/12 h de oscuridad. El secado en ventana refractante se realizó a 97±2 ºC, con una lámina refractante Mylar Poliester de 0.1 mm de espesor. Se obtuvieron tres modelos estadísticos cuadráticos (p<0.05) para el contenido de humedad, contenido de proteína y de ceniza, con coeficientes de determinación 2 y2 -ajustado, superiores a 0.85 y 0.75, respectivamente. Se optimizó por superposición de contornos una humedad de 5.09%, proteína de 63.16% y ceniza de 7.89% con la cantidad de la biomasa algal y el tiempo de secado de 23.65 g y 22.03 min, respectivamente.The effect of the quantity of the algal biomass of Spirulina sp. harvested (10 - 30 g) and drying time (10 - 30 minutes) by refractance window (RW), was investigated setting approximately 5% as lower moisture content, a higher percentage of protein and less than 10% of ashes. A Rotational Central Composite Design (RCCD) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) were used for eleven experimental treatments. The cultivation was performed in a closed-loop channel photobioreactor open to the atmosphere (CL-CPOA) illuminated with LED light in a photoperiod of 12 hours of light/ 12 hours of darkness. The drying in RW was performed at 97 ± 2 °C, with of a 0.1 mm thick Mylar Polyester refracting film. Three quadratic statistics models were obtained (p<0.05) for moisture content, protein and ash, with a coefficient of determination R 2 y R 2 -adjusted superior to 0.85 and 0.75, severally. A moisture content of 5.09%, 63.16% protein and 7.89% ash were optimized by an overlap of contours with the algal biomass and drying time of 23.65 g y 22.03 minutes respectively

Algae as a Potential Source of Food and Energy in Developing Countries

Algal biomass has large potential for the production of fuels and of value added chemical products. A brief survey of methods for the recovery of the biomass, for its successive transformation, and of the potential targets is here provide