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Marine Carotenoids: Properties, Health Benefits, and Applications

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine-Derived Ingredients for Drugs, Cosmeceuticals and Nutraceuticals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 1190

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Krakow, 30-059 Krakow, Poland
Interests: carotenoids; antioxidants; metabolic disorders; environmental microbiology; phototrophic bacteria

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Carotenoids are natural pigments that are largely responsible for the beauty of the underwater world. They are synthesised by a number of marine species including bacteria, archaea, algae, and fungi. Non-phototrophic marine organisms acquire them from natural sources within their ecosystems. Marine carotenoids exhibit distinctive structural features and biological activity of key importance for all groups of organisms, including humans. In recent years, they have gained a lot of attention not only as beneficial health agents but also as high-value compounds in a wide range of industrial applications.

This Special Issue of Marine Drugs is dedicated to widely abundant marine carotenoids. Its objective is to bring together researchers from various fields of science to present recent findings on different aspects of marine carotenoid properties, mechanisms of action, beneficial effects (not limited to those affecting humans), and potential clinical and biotechnological applications. Reports on novel methods of extraction, purification, and laboratory modifications are also welcome.

Dr. Joanna Fiedor
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. Marine Drugs is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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

  • marine carotenoids
  • distribution
  • biosynthesis
  • absorption
  • metabolism
  • bioavailability
  • functions
  • mechanisms of action
  • antioxidant activity
  • health effects
  • reduction in chronic disease risk
  • anti-cancer, anti-diabetes, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and anti-photoaging activities
  • clinical, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmeceutical applications
  • extraction, purification, and structure elucidation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 2015 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Fucoxanthin Pickering Emulsion Stability and Encapsulation with Seaweed Cellulose Nanofibrils Using High-Pressure Homogenization
by Ying Tuo, Mingrui Wang, Yiwei Yu, Yixiao Li, Xingyuan Hu, Long Wu, Zongpei Zhang, Hui Zhou and Xiang Li
Mar. Drugs 2025, 23(8), 311; https://doi.org/10.3390/md23080311 - 30 Jul 2025
Viewed by 233
Abstract
Poor solubility and bioavailability have limited the application of fucoxanthin in drug and functional food processing. In order to encapsulate fucoxanthin in delivery systems, in this study, cellulose was isolated from industrial brown algae residues and high-pressure homogenized into cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). Then, [...] Read more.
Poor solubility and bioavailability have limited the application of fucoxanthin in drug and functional food processing. In order to encapsulate fucoxanthin in delivery systems, in this study, cellulose was isolated from industrial brown algae residues and high-pressure homogenized into cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). Then, fucoxanthin was encapsulated into the Pickering emulsion stabilized by the CNFs. The effect of high-pressure homogenization on the characteristics of cellulose and the stability of fucoxanthin emulsion was evaluated. The results indicated that CNFs prepared at 105 MPa had a diameter of 87 nm and exhibited high zeta potential and thermal stability. Encapsulation efficiency peaked at 70.8% with 1.0 mg/mL fucoxanthin, and after three freeze–thaw cycles the encapsulation efficiency was higher than 60%. The DPPH scavenging activity after 12 days’ storage at 4 °C was still 42%. Furthermore, the Pickering emulsion with 1.0 mg/mL fucoxanthin showed high stability and antioxidant activity under different pH values, salinity, temperature, and UV light exposure duration. The CNFs effectively protected fucoxanthin from degradation, offering a novel delivery system for marine bioactive compounds. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the fucoxanthin delivery system of Pickering emulsion stabilized by the CNFs. Such emulsion might benefit the encapsulation and release of bioactive components in marine drugs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Carotenoids: Properties, Health Benefits, and Applications)
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19 pages, 4069 KiB  
Article
Encapsulation Techniques to Enhance Astaxanthin Utilization as Functional Feed Ingredient
by Matteo Vitale, Joaquin Gomez-Estaca, Janete Chung, Seong-Chea Chua and Daniela Maria Pampanin
Mar. Drugs 2025, 23(4), 143; https://doi.org/10.3390/md23040143 - 26 Mar 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 766
Abstract
Herein, the effectiveness of astaxanthin (AX) as functional feed ingredient was assessed by enhancing its stability and bioavailability using encapsulation methods. Spray-drying and liposome entrapment were applied to a natural AX source from shrimp by-products, along with two commercially synthetic alternatives. Encapsulated AX [...] Read more.
Herein, the effectiveness of astaxanthin (AX) as functional feed ingredient was assessed by enhancing its stability and bioavailability using encapsulation methods. Spray-drying and liposome entrapment were applied to a natural AX source from shrimp by-products, along with two commercially synthetic alternatives. Encapsulated AX formulations were evaluated for their physico-chemical properties, thermal stability, and in vitro performance using RTL-W1, a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) liver-derived cell line. Both techniques achieved high encapsulation efficiency (73–89%) and provided remarkable protection to AX during thermal treatments, maintaining its stability at 80 °C for up to 2 h and at 100 °C for 30 min. Nevertheless, neither encapsulation methods significantly mitigated water absorption over time. Additionally, morphological characterization revealed spray-dried microcapsules with typical round, partially collapsed particles with a broad size distribution, while liposomes further stabilized into dry powders by spray-drying showed structural rearrangements and an increase in size upon rehydration, although maintaining a uniform and stable distribution. In vitro testing revealed enhanced RTL-W1 cell viability and reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production when encapsulation was employed. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential of the selected encapsulation techniques to optimize the stability, bioavailability, and functionality of AX, providing valuable insights to improve its utilization as a functional ingredient in fish feed formulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Carotenoids: Properties, Health Benefits, and Applications)
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