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Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy

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A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2023) | Viewed by 21623

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Dr. Loretto Contreras-Porcia

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Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, República 440, Santiago, Chile
Interests: molecular ecology in seaweeds; marine ecotoxicology; seaweed cultivation; marine biomolecules; seaweed biocompounds and materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Manoj Kumar

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Climate Change Cluster, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Interests: seaweed biology; marine omics; seaweed cultivation; seaweed micropropagation and breeding; seaweed products developments
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

One of the world's largest sustainable marine resources are seaweeds, which provide numerous benefits both to ecological level and to humans through various ecosystem services. Over recent decades, enormous progress has been made in the knowledge and use of seaweeds as food, fertilizer, sustainable materials, and energy sources, which should certainly be part of the strategies that humankind should consider in these areas. Seaweed, by reducing cattle methane, replacing fossil plastic, and storing enormous amount of carbon, shows huge potential in the pursuit of global food security and fighting climate change. Seaweed farming is the fastest-growing aquaculture sector benefiting communities and the environment. Innovative seaweed cultivation techniques, micro-propagation and breeding tools, biomass processing optimizations coupled with robotic, advanced sensing, and monitoring techniques are delivering improved productivity and can better ensure the sustainable development of the seaweed farming and processing industry. The acceleration of climate change, reduction of conventional access to food, materials, and energy, put the use of seaweeds in an important position, from basic knowledge to effective production. This information is not only important for scientific advancement, but also for diverse seaweed industries, as well as local decision-makers.

In this Special Issue Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy, papers will be accepted from a broad scope of interdisciplinary research on seaweed biology, cultivation, seaweeds for food, sustainable material, and energy viewpoints, from basic molecular biology to industrial application. Original research papers, methods, reviews, and perspectives are welcomed for submission.

Prof. Dr. Loretto Contreras-Porcia
Dr. Manoj Kumar
Guest Editors

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Keywords

seaweed alimentation
seaweed food
seaweed sustainable materials
biorefinery
nutraceuticals
marine bioenergy
seaweed cultivation, breeding and propagation

Related Special Issue

Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy—2nd Edition in Plants (1 article)

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

19 pages, 1961 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tropical Red Macroalgae Cultivation with a Focus on Compositional Analysis

by Simona Augyte, Neil A. Sims, Keelee Martin, Stefanie Van Wychen, Bonnie Panczak, Hannah Alt, Robert Nelson and Lieve M. L. Laurens

Plants 2023, 12(20), 3524; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12203524 - 10 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1338

Abstract

To create carbon efficient sources of bioenergy feedstocks and feedstuff for aquaculture and terrestrial livestock, it is critical to develop and commercialize the most efficient seaweed cultivation approach with a sustainable nutrient input supply. Here, we present data for a novel, onshore tropical macroalgae cultivation system, based on influent deep seawater as the nutrient and carbon sources. Two red algal species were selected, Agardhiella subulata and Halymenia hawaiiana, as the basis for growth optimization. Highest productivity in small-scale cultivation was demonstrated with A. subulata in the 10% deep seawater (64.7 µg N L⁻¹) treatment, growing at up to 26% specific growth rate day⁻¹ with highest yields observed at 247.5 g m⁻² day⁻¹ fresh weight. The highest yields for H. hawaiiana were measured with the addition of 10% deep seawater up to 8.8% specific growth rate day⁻¹ and yields at 63.3 g fresh weight m⁻² day⁻¹ equivalent. Biomass should be culled weekly or biweekly to avoid density limitations, which likely contributed to a decrease in SGR over time. With a measured 30–40% carbon content of the ash-free dry weight (20–30% of the dry weight) biomass, this translates to an almost 1:1 CO₂ capture to biomass ratio. The compositional fingerprint of the high carbohydrate content of both Agardhiella and Halymenia makes for an attractive feedstock for downstream biorefinery applications. By focusing on scaling and optimizing seaweed farming technologies for large-scale onshore farms, the opportunities for yield potential, adaptability to cultivation conditions, and meeting global sustainability goals through novel, carbon-negative biomass sources such as seaweed can be realized. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy)

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27 pages, 418 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nutrient Composition, Physicobiochemical Analyses, Oxidative Stability and Antinutritional Assessment of Abundant Tropical Seaweeds from the Arabian Sea

by Babita Choudhary, Deepesh Khandwal, Nirmala Kumari Gupta, Jaykumar Patel and Avinash Mishra

Plants 2023, 12(12), 2302; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12122302 - 13 Jun 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1612

Abstract

Foods enriched with nutritional compounds and biological activities, especially antioxidants, are considered healthier for human and/or animal consumption. Seaweeds are rich sources of biologically active metabolites and are used as functional foods. In this study, proximate compositions, physicobiochemical characteristics and oil oxidative stability were analyzed for 15 abundant tropical seaweeds (four green—Acrosiphonia orientalis, Caulerpa scalpelliformis, Ulva fasciata, Ulva lactuca; six brown—Iyengaria stellata, Lobophora variegate, Padina boergesenii, Sargassum linearifolium, Spatoglossum asperum, Stoechospermum marginatum; and five red—Amphiroa anceps, Grateloupia indica, Halymenia porphyriformis, Scinaia carnosa, Solieria chordalis). All seaweeds were analyzed for the proximate composition, including moisture content, ash content, total sugar content, total proteins, total lipids, crude fiber, carotenoid content, total chlorophyll content, proline, iodine content, nitrogen-free extract, total phenolic content and total flavonoid content. Green seaweeds showed higher nutritional proximate composition, followed by brown and red seaweeds. Among the different seaweeds, Ulva, Caulerpa, Sargassum, Spatoglossum and Amphiroa showed high nutritional proximate composition compared to other seaweeds. High cation scavenging, free radical scavenging and total reducing activities were observed for Acrosiphonia, Caulerpa, Ulva, Sargassum, Spatoglossum and Iyengaria. It was also observed that 15 tropical seaweeds contained negligible amounts of antinutritional compounds, including tannic acid, phytic acid, saponins, alkaloids and terpenoids. Nutritionally, green and brown seaweeds provided higher sources of energy (150–300 calories per 100 g) compared to red seaweeds (80–165 calories per 100 g). Additionally, this study also confirmed that tropical seaweeds improved the oxidative stability of food oils and, therefore, might be recommended as natural antioxidant additives. The overall results confirm that tropical seaweeds are potential sources of nutrition and antioxidants and may be explored as functional food, dietary supplementation or animal feed. Additionally, they may also be explored as food supplements for fortifying food products, as food toppings or for garnishing and seasoning foods. However, a human or animal toxicity analysis is required before any conclusive recommendation for daily food or feed intake can be made. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy)

15 pages, 3021 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vegetative Propagation of the Commercial Red Seaweed Chondracanthus chamissoi in Peru by Secondary Attachment Disc during Indoor Cultivation

by Samuel Arbaiza, Jose Avila-Peltroche, Max Castañeda-Franco, Arturo Mires-Reyes, Orlando Advíncula and Paul Baltazar

Plants 2023, 12(10), 1940; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12101940 - 10 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 5270

Abstract

Chondracanthus chamissoi is an edible red seaweed with a high hydrocolloid content and food industry demand. This situation has led to a decline in their populations, especially in Peru. An alternative culture method based on the formation of secondary attachment discs (SADs) has shown several advantages over traditional spore strategies. However, there are still scarce reports of the SAD method in Peru. This work aimed to evaluate the best conditions for C. chamissoi maintenance prior to SAD development and the effect of locality on SAD formation using scallop shells as a substratum. Experiments were conducted with material collected from five localities in Pisco (Ica, Peru). Our results showed that the best conditions for C. chamissoi maintenance were: (1) fertilized seawater with Bayfolan^® (0.2 mL L⁻¹); and (2) medium exchange every two days or weekly. These conditions reduced the biomass loss to 9.36–11.14%. Most localities showed a similar capacity to produce SADs (7–17 SADs shell⁻¹). However, vegetative algae, especially Mendieta, tended to present a higher number of SADs. Vegetative fronds also showed lower levels of necrosis and deterioration compared to cystocarpic and tetrasporophytic samples. This study shows the technical feasibility of culturing C. chamissoi through SADs for developing repopulation and/or intensive cultivation projects in Peru. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy)

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10 pages, 1629 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

ChIP-Based Nuclear DNA Isolation for Genome Sequencing in Pyropia to Remove Cytosol and Bacterial DNA Contamination

by Zehao Zhang, Junhao Wang, Xiaoqian Zhang, Xiaowei Guan, Tian Gao, Yunxiang Mao, Ansgar Poetsch and Dongmei Wang

Plants 2023, 12(9), 1883; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12091883 - 5 May 2023

Viewed by 1226

Abstract

Contamination from cytosolic DNA (plastid and mitochondrion) and epiphytic bacteria is challenging the efficiency and accuracy of genome-wide analysis of nori-producing marine seaweed Pyropia yezoensis. Unlike bacteria and organellar DNA, Pyropia nuclear DNA is closely associated with histone proteins. In this study, we applied Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) of histone H3 to isolate nuclear DNA, followed by high-throughput sequencing. More than 99.41% of ChIP-sequencing data were successfully aligned to the reference nuclear genome; this was remarkably higher than those from direct extraction and direct extraction data, in which 40.96% to 42.95% are from plastids. The proportion of data that were mapped to the bacterial database when using ChIP extraction was very low. Additionally, ChIP data can cover up to 89.00% of the nuclear genome, higher than direct extraction data at equal data size and comparable to the latter at equal sequencing depth. The uncovered regions from the three methods are mostly overlapping, suggesting that incomplete sequencing accounts for the missing data, rather than failed chromatin-antibody binding in the ChIP extraction method. This ChIP extraction method can successfully separate nuclear DNA from cytosolic DNA and bacterial DNA, thus overwhelmingly reducing the sequencing cost in a genome resequencing project and providing strictly purified reference data for genome assembly. The method’s applicability to other macroalgae makes it a valuable contribution to the algal research community. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy)

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21 pages, 1708 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biochemical and Nutritional Characterization of Edible Seaweeds from the Peruvian Coast

by Natalia Arakaki, Leenin Flores Ramos, Alberto Isidoro Oscanoa Huaynate, Anthony Ruíz Soto and María Eliana Ramírez

Plants 2023, 12(9), 1795; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12091795 - 27 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2935

Abstract

In Peru, the number of species of edible seaweeds within the genera Chondracanthus, Porphyra (hereafter P.), Pyropia (hereafter Py.), and Ulva has not been fully established, nor is there a significant level of information available related to their chemical and nutritional composition. This study involved the biochemical analysis of species belonging to ten genera of macroalgae, known edible and some of which have the potential to be used as food, including six red (Callophyllis, Chondracanthus, Mazzaella, Porphyra, Pyropia, and Rhodymenia), two green (Ulva and Codium), and two brown (Eisenia and Lessonia) species collected along the Peruvian coast (6°–17° S). In the evaluation of 37 specimens, differences were found in the proximal composition, amino acid composition, and fatty acid profiles, which were specific to subgroups and supported their taxonomic classification, mainly at the order level. The red algae Porphyra/Pyropia (Bangiales) had the highest average percentage of protein (24.10%) and carbohydrates (59.85%) and the lowest percentage of ash (7.95%). Conversely, the brown alga Eisenia (Laminariales) had the lowest average percentage of protein, with different values related to the structure: 14.11% at the level of the frond and 9.46% at the level of the stipe. On the other hand, Bryopsidales green algae showed the highest average percentages of lipids (5.38%). The moisture percentages ranged from 4 to 16%, and no relevant significant differences were shown between the orders. The characteristic amino acids in all of the studied groups were glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine, and leucine. The highest average of the essential amino acids ratio was obtained for the Gigartinales red algae (48.65%), and the highest values of the essential amino acid index (EAAI) were obtained for the Ulvales, Laminariales, Gigartinales, and Rhodymeniales algae (EAAI > 0.92). The highest average relative percentage of fatty acids was obtained for polyunsaturated fatty acids, followed by saturated fatty acids. The major component of the ω6 fatty acids from red and brown algae was arachidonic acid (C20:4n − 6). The highest level of ω3 fatty acids was observed for the eicosapentaenoic acids (EPA) in red algae. The highest median ω6/ω3 ratio was displayed by the red alga Callophyllis variegata (Gigartinales). A detailed knowledge of edible seaweeds, and those considered potentially edible, would help to diversify the diet based on macroalgae in Peru. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy)

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12 pages, 1870 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Indoor and Outdoor Cultures of Gracilaria chilensis: Determination of Biomass Growth and Molecular Markers for Biomass Quality Evaluation

by Sofía Caroca-Valencia, Jorge Rivas, Matías Araya, Alejandra Núñez, Florentina Piña, Fernanda Toro-Mellado and Loretto Contreras-Porcia

Plants 2023, 12(6), 1340; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12061340 - 16 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1852

Abstract

Taking into consideration climate change scenarios, marine contamination, and a constantly expanding world population, seaweed aquaculture has become an important option for the large-scale production of high-quality biomass. Due to existing biological knowledge of Gracilaria chilensis, several cultivation strategies have been established for obtaining diverse biomolecules (lipids, fatty acids, pigments, among others) with nutraceutical properties. In this research, indoor and outdoor cultivation methodologies were applied to generate high biomass of G. chilensis with positive quality for productive purposes, where the quality was determined according to the concentrations of lipoperoxides and phenolic compounds and the total antioxidant capacity (TAC). The results showed that G. chilensis cultures, which were fertilized for three weeks with Basfoliar^® Aktiv (BF) at concentrations of 0.05–1% v/v, obtained high biomass (1–1.3 kg m^–2) and DGR (0.35–4.66% d^–1), low lipoperoxides (0.5–2.8 µmol g^–1 DT), and high phenolic compounds (0.4–0.92 µ eq. GA g^–1 FT) and TAC (5–7.5 nmol eq. TROLOX g^–1 FT) as compared with other culture media. Lower stress was determined under indoor cultures, due to the operative control of diverse physicochemical stressor parameters (T°, light intensity, photoperiod, among others). Therefore, the cultures developed allow scaling the biomass in productive terms and are suitable for obtaining compounds of interest. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy)

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10 pages, 2100 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Photosynthetic Pigment and Carbohydrate Profiling of Fucus vesiculosus from an Iberian Coastal Lagoon

by Ana C. R. Resende, Rui Pereira, Cláudia Nunes, Sónia Cruz, Ricardo Calado and Paulo Cartaxana

Plants 2023, 12(6), 1324; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12061324 - 15 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1915

Abstract

Fucus vesiculosus is a brown seaweed with applications in the food, pharmaceutic, and cosmetic industries. Among its most valuable bioactive compounds are the pigment fucoxanthin and polysaccharides (e.g., fucoidans). In this study, we profiled the photosynthetic pigments and carbohydrates of F. vesiculosus from six locations along the Ílhavo Channel in the Iberian coastal lagoon of Ria de Aveiro, Portugal. Photosynthetic performance (Fv/Fm), pigment, and carbohydrate concentrations were similar between locations, despite differences in environmental factors, such as salinity and periods of exposure to desiccation. Concentration of total carbohydrates (neutral sugars + uronic acids) averaged 418 mg g⁻¹ dw. Fucose was the second most abundant neutral sugar, with an average concentration of 60.7 mg g⁻¹ dw, indicating a high content of fucoidans. Photosynthetic pigments included chlorophylls a and c, β,β-carotene, and the xanthophylls fucoxanthin, violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, and zeaxanthin. Concentrations of fucoxanthin were higher than those reported for most brown macroalgae, averaging 0.58 mg g⁻¹ dw (65% of total carotenoids). This study indicates that F. vesiculosus from Ria de Aveiro is a valuable macroalgal resource for aquaculture companies operating in the region, with considerable potential to yield high-value bioactive compounds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy)

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14 pages, 7374 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Desiccation Stress Tolerance in Porphyra and Pyropia Species: A Latitudinal Analysis along the Chilean Coast

by Loretto Contreras-Porcia, Andrés Meynard, Florentina Piña, Manoj Kumar, Carlos Lovazzano, Alejandra Núñez and María Rosa Flores-Molina

Plants 2023, 12(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12010012 - 20 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1929

Abstract

One of the most important factors regulating the distribution and abundance of seaweeds is desiccation, triggered mainly by tidal changes and climatic variation. Porphyra and Pyropia species have evolved multiple strategies to tolerate desiccation stress; however, how these tolerance strategies differ in these species inhabiting different latitudes is still unknown. In this context, we analyzed, in situ, the physiological responses of these species (collected from 18° S to 41° S along the Chilean coast) to desiccation stress using biochemical and molecular analyses. The hyper-arid terrestrial climate of northern Chile, with high evaporation and lack of constant rain determines a very steep increase in desiccation stress in the upper intertidal during low tide for these species. Accordingly, the results showed that, in comparison with the southernmost populations, the Porphyra/Pyropia species from the north zone of Chile (18°–30° S) exhibited higher contents of lipoperoxide and carbonyls (1.6–1.9 fold) together with higher enzymatic activities, including ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, peroxiredoxin, and thioredoxin (2–3-fold). In addition, a substantial expression of cat, prx, and trx transcripts during desiccation was demonstrated, mainly in the northernmost populations. These results provide evidence of (i) significant activation of antioxidant enzymes and transcripts (principally cat and prx); (ii) participation of phenolic antioxidant compounds as a highly plastic physiological strategy to cope with desiccation; and (iii) the activation of the tolerance responses was affected by species latitudinal distribution. Thus, for the first time, this study integrated the biochemical and genetic responses of diverse Porphyra/Pyropia species to better understand their physiological dynamics of tolerance over a wide latitudinal range. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy)

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Review

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19 pages, 337 KiB

Open AccessReview

Seaweeds in Food: Current Trends

by Cristian Rogel-Castillo, Monica Latorre-Castañeda, Camila Muñoz-Muñoz and Cristian Agurto-Muñoz

Plants 2023, 12(12), 2287; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12122287 - 12 Jun 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2002

Abstract

Edible seaweeds are an excellent source of macronutrients, micronutrients, and bioactive compounds, and they can be consumed raw or used as ingredients in food products. However, seaweeds may also bioaccumulate potentially hazardous compounds for human health and animals, namely, heavy metals. Hence, the purpose of this review is to analyze the recent trends of edible seaweeds research: (i) nutritional composition and bioactive compounds, (ii) the use and acceptability of seaweeds in foodstuffs, (iii) the bioaccumulation of heavy metals and microbial pathogens, and (iv) current trends in Chile for using seaweeds in food. In summary, while it is evident that seaweeds are consumed widely worldwide, more research is needed to characterize new types of edible seaweeds as well as their use as ingredients in the development of new food products. Additionally, more research is needed to maintain control of the presence of heavy metals to assure a safe product for consumers. Finally, the need to keep promoting the benefits of seaweed consumption is emphasized, adding value in the algae-based production chain, and promoting a social algal culture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seaweed Biology: Focusing on Food, Materials and Bioenergy)

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