A Comparative Study of the Fatty Acids and Monosaccharides of Wild and Cultivated Ulva sp.

Sara García-Poza,João Carlos Marques,Ana M M Gonçalves,Tiago Morais,João Cotas,Leonel Pereira,Adriana Leandro

doi:10.3390/jmse10020233

Abstract

There is a need to find new possible raw food sources with interesting nutritional values. One of the most unexploited sources are seaweeds. Thus, Ulva sp. is a green edible seaweed that shows a high growth rate in nature and can support drastic abiotic changes, such as temperature and salinity. This work aims to determine the main nutritional compounds, fatty acids (FAs) and monosaccharides profiles of Ulva sp. (collected from Mondego estuary, Portugal), to identify the potential of this seaweed as a food source. The present study also highlights the potential of controlled and semi-controlled cultivation systems in Ulva sp. profiles. The results showed that the controlled cultivation systems had higher essential FA and monosaccharide content than the semi-controlled cultivation systems. However, they are in some cases identical to wild individuals of Ulva sp., supporting that cultivation of Ulva sp. can be a key for food safety. It is crucial to control the associated risks of contamination that can occur in wild specimens.

Highlights

Academic Editor: Nowadays, we live with a deceptive abundance of food, in which we are essentially surrounded by fast food that is rich in calories, saturated fats, and lacking in essential nutrients [1]
As noticeable in indoor cultivation, starting from day 21, there was a lower rate of growth of the Ulva specimens (Table 1)
The specimens’ biomass growth increased, so there was a need to go to the volumetric system, which was the aquarium with an open area, wherein the specimens presented a lower specific growth rate, which may have been due to a reaction with the different abiotic situation and interactions in a non-septic environment

Summary

Introduction

Academic Editor: Nowadays, we live with a deceptive abundance of food, in which we are essentially surrounded by fast food that is rich in calories, saturated fats, and lacking in essential nutrients [1]. Marine macroalgae, are considered as an alternative natural food resource, with a high nutritional value and low-fat content. Seaweeds are extraordinary dietary supplements because of their high content of minerals (iron and calcium), vitamins, proteins (which contain crucial amino acids for human welfare), and structural polysaccharides (consistently considered dietary fiber). Macroalgae of the genus Ulva (Chlorophyta) is a renewable natural resource, existing in large quantities along the coast around the world. In this genus, 84 Ulva species have been discovered, which are widely distributed [4]. Ulva lactuca and Ulva rigida, commonly known as sea lettuce, exhibit a wide spectrum of nutritional composition, which makes them excellent candidates for healthy eating in human nutrition, with a high protein content and relatively high levels of essential amino acids such as histidine, which presents levels comparable to those found in vegetables and eggs [5,6]

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