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Foods
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Seafood Proteins: Nutritional, Functional and Bioactive Properties
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Seafood Proteins: Nutritional, Functional and Bioactive Properties

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Foods of Marine Origin".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2025) | Viewed by 2163

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Enrique Márquez-Ríos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Investigación y Posgrado en Alimentos, Universidad de Sonora (Unison), Boulevard Luis Encinas and Rosales, 83000 Hermosillo, Sonora, México
Interests: food science and technology; seafood proteins; functional properties of proteins; postmortem biochemistry; fishing by-products; protein characterization; physical chemistry of proteins;
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The study of proteins in marine products is an interesting area for food technologies. Proteins can be studied from different points of view: nutritional, functional, and bioactive properties, among others. From a nutritional point of view, it is known that proteins of marine origin are of excellent quality, as they are characterized by having all the essential amino acids. From a functional point of view, proteins are the main technological component of marine products, since depending on the source, they can be used to produce foams, gels, emulsions, and films, among others. On the other hand, many studies have recently focused on studying the antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and antimutagenic effects of protein hydrolysates from different marine sources. Due to the above, the study of proteins from marine organisms has received special attention in recent years, which has led to a deeper study of the role of proteins in conventional, as well as non-conventional, sources.

Dr. Enrique Márquez-Ríos
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nutritional value of proteins
  • characterization of proteins
  • functionality of proteins
  • methods to improve protein functionality
  • chemistry and physicochemistry of proteins
  • protein hydrolysates as bioactive components

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

16 pages, 562 KiB  
Review
Proteins from Microalgae: Nutritional, Functional and Bioactive Properties
by Juan Pablo García-Encinas, Saul Ruiz-Cruz, Jousé Juárez, José de Jesús Ornelas-Paz, Carmen Lizette Del Toro-Sánchez and Enrique Márquez-Ríos
Foods 2025, 14(6), 921; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14060921 - 8 Mar 2025
Viewed by 1821
Abstract
Microalgae have emerged as a sustainable and efficient source of protein, offering a promising alternative to conventional animal and plant-based proteins. Species such as Arthrospira platensis and Chlorella vulgaris contain protein levels ranging from 50% to 70% of their dry weight, along with [...] Read more.
Microalgae have emerged as a sustainable and efficient source of protein, offering a promising alternative to conventional animal and plant-based proteins. Species such as Arthrospira platensis and Chlorella vulgaris contain protein levels ranging from 50% to 70% of their dry weight, along with a well-balanced amino acid profile rich in essential amino acids such as lysine and leucine. Their cultivation avoids competition for arable land, aligning with global sustainability goals. However, the efficient extraction of proteins is challenged by their rigid cell walls, necessitating the development of optimized methods such as bead milling, ultrasonication, enzymatic treatments, and pulsed electric fields. These techniques preserve functionality while achieving yields of up to 96%. Nutritional analyses reveal species-dependent digestibility, ranging from 70 to 90%, with Spirulina platensis achieving the highest rates due to low cellulose content. Functionally, microalgal proteins exhibit emulsifying, water-holding, and gel-forming properties, enabling applications in baking, dairy, and meat analogs. Bioactive peptides derived from these proteins exhibit antioxidant, antimicrobial (inhibiting E. coli and S. aureus), anti-inflammatory (reducing TNF-α and IL-6), and antiviral activities (e.g., Dengue virus inhibition). Despite their potential, commercialization faces challenges, including regulatory heterogeneity, high production costs, and consumer acceptance barriers linked to eating habits or sensory attributes. Current market products like Spirulina-enriched snacks and Chlorella tablets highlight progress, but food safety standards and scalable cost-effective extraction technologies remain critical for broader adoption. This review underscores microalgae’s dual role as a nutritional powerhouse and a source of multifunctional bioactives, positioning them at the forefront of sustainable food and pharmaceutical innovation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seafood Proteins: Nutritional, Functional and Bioactive Properties)
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