Environmentally Friendly Valorization of Solieria filiformis (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta) from IMTA Using a Biorefinery Concept

• Published in: Marine drugs Vol. 16; no. 12; p. 487
• Main Authors: Peñuela, Ana, Robledo, Daniel, Bourgougnon, Nathalie, Bedoux, Gilles, Hernández-Núñez, Emanuel, Freile-Pelegrín, Yolanda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 06.12.2018; MDPI
• Subjects: Acyclovir; Algae; Antiviral activity; Antiviral agents; Aquaculture; Bioactive compounds; Biofiltration; Biomass; Biorefineries; biorefinery; Carrageenan; Dietary supplements; EAE; Efficiency; Fatty acids; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; Gigartinales; Herpes simplex; IMTA; Life Sciences; Lipids; MAE; Metabolism; Metabolites; Nitrogen; Polysaccharides; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Refining; Rhodophyta; Saccharides; Seawater; Seaweeds; Solieria; Solieria filiformis; Vegetal Biology; Viruses; Water quality; MAE; biorefinery; IMTA; carrageenan; Solieria filiformis; EAE; antiviral activity
• ISSN: 1660-3397; 1660-3397
• DOI: 10.3390/md16120487

Marine macroalgae (seaweed) are an excellent source of novel bioactive metabolites. The biorefinery concept applied to seaweed facilitates the extraction of many chemical constituents from the same biomass ensuring that the resource is used fully, generating few residues through a succession of extraction steps. In the present study, the biomass of the carragenophyte (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales) cultured in an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) system was evaluated to obtain valuable products by a biorefinery approach. Enzymatic-assisted extraction (EAE) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) were the eco-friendly technologies used to ensure an environmentally friendly valorization of the biomass. Three valuable products were successfully recovered: a water-soluble extract rich in proteins and sulfated polysaccharides suitable as a food supplement; a lipid fraction rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) with potential to be used in the nutraceutical industry; and a pure ι-carrageenan with a powerful antiviral activity against virus (EC = 6.3 µg mL ) comparable to the commercial antiviral acyclovir (EC = 3.2⁻5.4 µg mL ).