Evaluation of marine algae Undaria pinnatifida and Porphyra purpurea as a food supplement: composition, nutritional value and effect of intake on intestinal, hepatic and renal enzyme activities in rats

2013 ◽  
Vol 93 (8) ◽  
pp. 1863-1868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Taboada ◽  
Rosendo Millan ◽  
Isabel Miguez
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 8121
Author(s):  
Giorgos Markou ◽  
Christos Eliopoulos ◽  
Anthoula Argyri ◽  
Dimitrios Arapoglou

(1) Background: Arthrospira (commonly known as Spirulina) is an edible cyanobacterium that is produced worldwide as a food supplement owing to its high nutritional value. Arthrospira displays strong potential as an important ingredient in the development of novel functional foods. Polysaccharides from Arthrospira are biologically active compounds and hence there is interest in producing biomass rich in carbohydrates. (2) Methods: A. platensis was cultivated under different degrees of phosphorus limitation in order to trigger the accumulation of carbohydrates. The biomass was then characterized in terms of its content of α- and β-glucans, total dietary fiber and monosaccharide profile. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used for the rapid analysis of the main biomass components. (3) Results: Phosphorus limitation resulted in an increase in carbohydrates (from 23% up to 65% dry biomass) of which 4–12% (in relation to the dry biomass) was α-glucans and 20–34% was 1.3:1.6 β-glucans, while 1.4:1.6 β-glucans were not detected. Total dietary fibers ranged from 20–32% (of dry biomass), whereas among the carbohydrates, the predominant monosaccharide was glucose (>95%). FTIR performed well when applied as a prediction tool for the main biomass components. (4) Conclusions: Since β-glucans are of particular interest as biologically active compounds, this study demonstrates that phosphorus-limited A. platensis could be a potential ingredient for the development of novel functional foods.


Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 2394
Author(s):  
Mário Cavaco ◽  
Adriana Duarte ◽  
Marta V. Freitas ◽  
Clélia Afonso ◽  
Susana Bernardino ◽  
...  

Gelidium corneum is a well-known agarophyte, harvested worldwide for its high agar quality. However, the species also exhibits an interesting nutritional profile, but with seasonal variations. Therefore, to evaluate the nutritional value of G. corneum, ash, crude protein, total lipids, and carbohydrates were analyzed at different times of the year. The heavy metals mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium, and tin, as well as iodine were also measured. Finally, the seasonal antioxidant capacity of G. corneum extracts was evaluated. Our results indicate that the biomass is rich in protein (up to 16.25 ± 0.33%) and carbohydrates (up to 39.5 ± 3.29%), and low in lipids (up to 2.75 ± 0.28%), and especially in the summer, the AI, TI indexes, n-6/n-3 and h/H ratios (0.93, 0.6, 0.88 and 1.08, respectively) are very interesting. None of the contaminants exceeded the legally established limits, and the iodine values were adequate for a healthy diet. Finally, the antioxidant capacity is fair, with the DPPH £ 10.89 ± 1.46%, and ABTS £ 13.90 ± 1.54% inhibition, FRAP £ 0.91 ± 0.22 AAE.g−1, and TPC £ 6.82 ± 0.26 GAE.g−1. The results show that G. corneum is an attractive resource, with potential use as food or as a food supplement.


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1093
Author(s):  
Chiara Amitrano ◽  
Carmen Arena ◽  
Stefania De Pascale ◽  
Veronica De Micco

In the last decades, there has been a growing interest in the production of sprouts, since they are a highly nutritious food, particularly suitable for indoor farming in urban areas. Achieving sprout production in indoor systems requires an understanding of possible alterations induced by the microclimate. The aim of this study was to analyze the combined effect of presence/absence of light and high/low air relative humidity (RH) on mung bean sprouts. Morpho-anatomical development and functional anatomical traits in hypocotyl were quantified. The content of antioxidants, soluble sugars, and starch were measured for nutritional and functional purposes. Different RH regimes mainly induced morpho-anatomical modifications, while the presence/absence of light changed the content of antioxidant compounds. Increments in stele diameter at high RH suggest a higher water uptake and conductivity, compared to the low RH treatment; low RH and light induced anatomical traits improving plant water transport (reduced number of cortical layers) and increased the production of antioxidants. The overall results suggested that RH and light, already at the early stages of development, affect the plant’s nutritional value. Therefore, the combination of light and low RH allows the production of antioxidant-rich mung bean sprouts to be used as a food supplement.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Washaya ◽  
J. F. Mupangwa ◽  
E. Muranda

The objective of this study was to assess utilization levels, availability, nutritional value, and magnitude of sales by vendors ofDioscorea steriscusby residents of Bindura. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select respondents. Data were subjected to Chi-square, logistic regression, and correlation to determine the effects of demographic determinants on utilization ofD. steriscus. Questionnaires were used to collect data. Results show that education status and period of stay significantly affect the consumption ofD. steriscus(P<0.05). It was also observed that consumption is frequent between lunch and supper (47%) compared to breakfast.D. steriscushas high iron (6.8%), ash (2.06%), and CF (16.8%) contents but it is low in protein (0.83%). Irrespective of gender of respondent, suburb of residence, size of family, period of stay, education level, employment status, and source of income, respondents will growD. steriscusfor use as food supplement (odds ratio = 0.475). The period of stay (r=0.08) and education level (r=0.08) positively affect the growing ofD. steriscus.D. steriscuscan be used as source of energy and can also be used possibly for medicinal purposes. Further study is required on possibility of phytochemicals and cytotoxic components to justify its use.


Biomolecules ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
M. Rosário Domingues ◽  
Ricardo Calado

Marine microalgae are a multitude of taxonomically diverse unicellular organisms, ranging from diatoms to dinoflagellates and several other well-known groups, that may dwell in the water column, occur in marine sediments, or even associate symbiotically with marine animals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2A) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Rodrigues Albuquerque ◽  
Vera Akiko Maihara ◽  
Cassio Bessa De Lima ◽  
Paulo Sergio Cardoso Silva

Overtime seaweeds have been used as a food mainly due to their high nutritional value. This type of food is considered as functional food and contributes to the nutritional human requirements, being beneficial to human health. In this study 13 edible seaweed samples acquired in the marked of São Paulo city were analyzed and the concentrations of elements Cl, K, Mg, Mn and Na were determined by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). The following edible seaweeds were analyzed: Nori (Porphyra umbilicates); Hijiki (Hijikia fusiforme); Kombu (Laminaria sp.) and Wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) species from China, USA, Japan and South Korea. The Undaria pinnatifida species presented the highest Na concentration and the lowest K level. The highest variation was obtained for Mn in the Porphyra umbilicates species.


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