Abstract
The southern coast of Peru presents a wide diversity of seaweed, which could be used as a new sustainable source of nutritional and bioactive compounds. For the first time, we chemically characterized two species of brown (Macrocystis pyrifera) and red (Chondracanthus chamissoi) Peruvian seaweed. Both species contained significant amounts of proteins (5–12%), lipids (0.16–0.74%), carbohydrates (43.29–62.65%) and minerals (1300–1800 mg kg−1 dw: dry weight). However, the profiles of amino acids, fatty acids and minerals were highly dependent on species type. C. chamissoi had a higher content of essential amino acids and minerals than M. pyrifera (170% and 45%, respectively), while the presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω 6) as well as the content of tocopherols was higher in M. pyrifera (15.77 g 100 g−1 and 2.37 μg 100 g−1, respectively). Additionally, both species presented significant concentrations of total polyphenols (39–59 mg GAE g−1) and a high antioxidant capacity (67–98 µM TE g−1). Although M. pyrifera and C. chamissoi seem to be excellent raw materials for the food and nutraceutical industry, both species contained toxic heavy metals (cadmium: Cd and nickel: Ni) which could affect the safety of their direct use. Therefore, new separation strategies that allow the selective recovery of nutrients and bioactive compounds from Peruvian seaweed are required.
Highlights
Seaweeds are recognized as a new sustainable source of micro and macronutrients, which can be classified as Chlorophytes, Rhodophyta and Phaeophyceae [1]
Similar differences were reported by Vasquez et al [30], who found that the protein content present in red seaweed was 1.7 times higher than in brown seaweed
The red and brown seaweeds from Southern Peru presented 9 and 12 times more total polyphenol content as compared to Chilean seaweed. These differences would allow M. pyrifera and C. chamissoi to be recognized as a new sustainable source of bioactive compounds, it is necessary to carry out studies that analyze other external factors that can affect the content of polyphenols, such as temperature, light intensity, salinity and chemical composition of nutrients
Summary
Seaweeds are recognized as a new sustainable source of micro and macronutrients, which can be classified as Chlorophytes (green), Rhodophyta (red) and Phaeophyceae (brown) [1]. The demand for these seaweeds has increased considerably in the world (8000 million tons per year) [4] Both red and brown seaweed have significant concentrations of proteins, minerals, fatty acids, hydrocolloids and polyphenols [3,5]. The presence of toxic heavy metals like copper (Cu), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury and lead (Pb) in these marine vegetals may represent a health risk [21] In this sense, before establishing the future food applications of seaweed, it is even more important to characterize its minerals. This information will allow us to establish selective separation strategies, such as extraction and purification, to obtain seaweeds beneficial compounds and eliminate its toxic substances Under these considerations, we evaluated the potential of two unexploited brown and red Peruvian seaweeds as new sources of nutrients and bioactive compounds. We determined the profiles of amino acids, fatty acids and metals, as well as the total polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity
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