Sustainable and cost-effective production process for the upcycling of olive, grape and nut by-products into 4 natural and healthy ingredients for nutraceutical and cosmetic applications

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A HPLC‐DAD method for identifying and estimating the content of fucoxanthin, β‐carotene and chlorophyll a in brown algal extracts

Publication . Lourenço-Lopes, C.; Fraga-Corral, M.; Garcia-Perez, P.; Carreira-Casais, A.; Silva, Aurora; Simal-Gandara, J.; Prieto, M.A.

Seaweeds are photosynthetic organisms that have high contents of pigments. The coloration of each alga is defined by the content and combination of pigments synthesized, which varies among species and environmental conditions. The most abundant pigments in algae are chlorophylls and carotenoids, lipophilic molecules that can be used as natural colorants and have high acceptance by consumers. In this work, a simple and short hands-on time HPLC-DAD method for identifying and estimating the pigment content of algal extracts, specifically fucoxanthin, β-carotene and chlorophyll a was carried out. Using this optimized method, a pigment screening was performed on the ethanolic extracts obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction from nine brown algal from the Atlantic coastline: Ascophyllum nodosum, Bifurcaria bifurcata, Fucus spiralis, Himanthalia elongata, Laminaria saccharina, Laminaria ochroleuca, Pelvetia canaliculata, Sargassum muticum and Undaria pinnatifida. HPLC results permitted to highlight L. saccharina and U. pinnatifida as promising sources of these three target pigments containing a total amount of 10.5 – 11.5 mg per gram of dry weight. Among them, the most abundant one was fucoxanthin, an added-value compound with a high potential to be commercially exploited by different industries, such as the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical sectors.

2022Journal article

Open access

Fucoxanthin’s Optimization from Undaria pinnatifida Using Conventional Heat Extraction, Bioactivity Assays and In Silico Studies

Publication . Lourenço-Lopes, Catarina; Fraga-Corral, Maria; Soria-Lopez, Anton; Nuñes-Estevez, Bernabe; Barral-Martinez, Marta; Silva, Aurora; Li, Ningyang; Liu, Chao; Simal-Gandara, Jesus; Prieto, Miguel A.

Brown macroalgae are a potential source of natural pigments. Among them, Undaria pinnatifida is recognized for its high concentration of fucoxanthin (Fx), which is a pigment with a wide range of bioactivities. In this study, three independent parameters were optimized for conventional heat extraction (CHE) to maximize the recovery of Fx from Undaria pinnatifida. Optimal conditions (temperature = 45 °C, solvent = 70%, and time = 61 min) extracted 5.1 mg Fx/g dw. Later, the bioactivities of the Fx-rich extracts (antioxidant, antimicrobial, and neuroprotective) were assessed using in vitro and in silico approaches. In vitro assays indicated that Fx has a strong antioxidant capacity and even stronger antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria. This data was supported in silico where Fx established a high binding affinity to DR, a Staphylococcus aureus protein, through aa ALA-8, LEU-21, and other alkane interactions. Finally, the in vitro enzymatic inhibition of AChE using Fx, was further supported using docking models that displayed Fx as having a high affinity for aa TYR72 and THR 75; therefore, the Fx extraction behavior explored in this work may reduce the costs associated with energy and solvent consumption. Moreover, this paper demonstrates the efficiency of CHE when recovering high amounts of Fx from Undaria pinnatifida. Furthermore, these findings can be applied in different industries.

2022Journal article

Open access

Antibacterial Use of Macroalgae Compounds against Foodborne Pathogens

Publication . Silva, Aurora; Silva, Sofia A.; Lourenço-Lopes, C.; Jimenez-Lopez, C.; Carpena, M.; Gullón, P.; Fraga-Corral, M.; Domingues, Valentina; Barroso, M. Fátima; Simal-Gandara, J.; Prieto, M. A.

The search for food resources is a constant in human history. Nowadays, the search for natural and safe food supplies is of foremost importance. Accordingly, there is a renewed interest in eco-friendly and natural products for substitution of synthetic additives. In addition, microbial contamination of food products during their obtaining and distribution processes is still a sanitary issue, and an important target for the food industry is to avoid food contamination and its related foodborne illnesses. These diseases are fundamentally caused by certain microorganisms listed in this review and classified according to their Gram negative or positive character. Algae have proven to possess high nutritional value and a wide variety of biological properties due to their content in active compounds. Among these capabilities, macroalgae are recognized for having antimicrobial properties. Thus, the present paper revises the actual knowledge of microbial contaminants in the food industry and proposes antimicrobial algal compounds against those pathogenic bacteria responsible for food contamination as valuable molecules for its growth inhibition. The capacity of algae extracts to inhibit some major food pathogen growth was assessed. Moreover, the main applications of these compounds in the food industry were discussed while considering their favorable effects in terms of food safety and quality control

2020Journal article

Open access

Macroalgae as a Source of Valuable Antimicrobial Compounds: Extraction and Applications

Publication . Silva, Aurora; Silva, Sofia A.; Carpena, M.; Garcia-Oliveira, P.; Gullón, P.; Barroso, M. Fátima; Prieto, M.A.; Simal-Gandara, J.

n the last few decades, attention on new natural antimicrobial compounds has arisen due to a change in consumer preferences and the increase in the number of resistant microorganisms. Macroalgae play a special role in the pursuit of new active molecules as they have been traditionally consumed and are known for their chemical and nutritional composition and their biological properties, including antimicrobial activity. Among the bioactive molecules of algae, proteins and peptides, polysaccharides, polyphenols, polyunsaturated fatty acids and pigments can be highlighted. However, for the complete obtaining and incorporation of these molecules, it is essential to achieve easy, profitable and sustainable recovery of these compounds. For this purpose, novel liquid–liquid and solid–liquid extraction techniques have been studied, such as supercritical, ultrasound, microwave, enzymatic, high pressure, accelerated solvent and intensity pulsed electric fields extraction techniques. Moreover, different applications have been proposed for these compounds, such as preservatives in the food or cosmetic industries, as antibiotics in the pharmaceutical industry, as antibiofilm, antifouling, coating in active packaging, prebiotics or in nanoparticles. This review presents the main antimicrobial potential of macroalgae, their specific bioactive compounds and novel green extraction technologies to efficiently extract them, with emphasis on the antibacterial and antifungal data and their applications.

2020Journal article

Open access