Abstract
The sustainable use of marine resources is a competitive advantage of the most developed countries, which has a positive impact on the economic and social development of their populations. Currently marine organisms such as macroalgae are an important source of functional compounds such as polysaccharides, proteins, unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, among others, with nutritional value and pharmacological properties. Gracilariopsis tenuifrons is a macroalga abundant in the Colombian Caribbean Sea which has not been neither chemically and nor physicochemical studied, therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the polysaccharides composition and nutrients contents of crude extract and its potential UV radiation absorption capacity. The purification was carried out by ultrafiltration using membranes of molecular size exclusion 100, 50, 10 and 3 kDa. The chemical characterization was done by gel electrophoresis, NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy and the particle size and potential zeta by DLS. The absorption coefficient (absorbance/g dry sample) was measured at 290, 310, 340 and 380 nm. Sulfated and non-sulfated polysaccharides were detected in the fractions and identified as polysaccharides type k-, and β-carrageenan and alginate. The proximate analysis showed that the total content of protein, carbohydrates, fat and calories (15.58, 69.81, 0.15 % and 342.94 Kcal, respectively). The crude extracts showed an important absorption coefficient in UVB-UVA range. The findings suggest that G. tenuifrons seaweed propagated in vitro is a viable candidate of natural additives such as phycocolloids and bioactive compounds for designing new functional products in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry, in addition to its nutritional properties to be use in foods.
Highlights
In recent years, the demand for algae and their by-products are in constant growth, whether to produce different agro-industrial products as well as for human consumption
The findings suggest that G. tenuifrons seaweed propagated in vitro is a viable candidate of natural additives, such as phycocolloids and bioactive compounds, for designing new functional products in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry, in addition to its nutritional properties to be used in foods
Ethanol was selected as a solvent system, and the extraction of polysaccharides yielded 10.3% and 1.8% for the Molecular weight distribution
Summary
The demand for algae and their by-products are in constant growth, whether to produce different agro-industrial products as well as for human consumption. According to FAO reports, the world production of algae in 2012 reached 23.8 million tons and each year, it is estimated that about 25 million tons of. Algae are rich in carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, fatty acids (e.g., eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and γ-linoleic acid), as well as in polyphenols, terpenoids, carotenoids, and tocopherols (Michalak and Chojnacka, 2015). The chemical composition of the marine algae depends on the species, place of cultivation, atmospheric conditions, and harvest period. Nutritional facts of these marine organisms such as the content of dietary fiber (33%–50% dry weight), protein (brown 5%–24%, red and green 10%–47%), minerals (8%–40%), and low-lipid content (1%–2%) are interesting (Rupérez and SauraCalixto, 2001). The marine algae are recognized as a rich source of sulfated polysaccharides. Most of them are transformed into nanoparticles, nanofibers, microparticles, scaffolds, membranes, gels, beads, and sponges (Jayakumar et al, 2010)
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