Abstract
The phylum Cnidaria is one of the most important contributors in providing abundance of bio- and chemodiversity. In this study, a comprehensive chemical investigation on the nutritional and nutraceutical properties of Mediterranean jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca was carried out. Also, compositional differences between male and female organisms, as well as between their main anatomical parts, namely bell and oral arms, were explored in an attempt to select the best potential sources of nutrients and/or nutraceuticals from jellyfish. With the exception of higher energy densities and total phenolic contents observed in females than males, no statistically significant differences related to the specimen’s sex were highlighted for the other compound classes. Rather, the distribution of the investigated chemical classes varied depending on the jellyfish’s body parts. In fact, crude proteins were more abundant in oral arms than bells; saturated fatty acids were more concentrated in bells than oral arms, whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids were distributed in the exact opposite way. On the other hand, major elements and trace elements demonstrated an opposite behavior, being the latter most accumulated in oral arms than bells. Additionally, important nutraceuticals, such as eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, and antioxidant minerals, were determined. Overall, obtained data suggest the potential employment of the Mediterranean P. noctiluca for the development of natural aquafeed and food supplements.
Highlights
The marine environment and its inhabitants are today recognized as an enormous reservoir of bioactive substances to be exploited for pharmaceutical and aquaculture applications, and as nutraceuticals as well [1,2,3,4]
Biometrics of P. noctiluca, caught from March to June, are reported in Figure 1; while in Table S1, the summary output of the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis performed on investigated parameters, such as length, bell diameter, and weight (g) of the wet mass, is reported
Male and female specimens of Pelagia noctiluca from the Strait of Messina were chemically characterized with respect to their nutritional and nutraceutical properties, taking into consideration both their bells and oral arms
Summary
The marine environment and its inhabitants are today recognized as an enormous reservoir of bioactive substances to be exploited for pharmaceutical and aquaculture applications, and as nutraceuticals as well [1,2,3,4]. A number of anthropogenic activities have negatively affected marine ecosystems, inhibiting the derived services, and their precious bioactive resources as well [5,6,7,8]. Mar. Drugs 2019, 17, 172; doi:10.3390/md17030172 www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrugs. In this scenario, Cnidaria such as scypho-, cubo-, and hydromedusae, referred to as ‘jellyfish’, have become issues of public concern, due to the huge proliferations taking place in coastal waters. The triggers of jelly ‘blooms’ are typically identified in (i) global warming [9,10],
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