Author/Editor		Pereira, Hugo; Barreira, Luísa; Figueiredo, Filipe; Custódio, Luísa; Vizetto-Duarte, Catarina; Polo, Cristina; Hafner, Eva; Engelen, Aschwin; Varela, João
Title		Polyunsaturated fatty acids of marine macroalgae
Type		članek
Vol. and No.		Letnik 10, št. 9
Publication year		2012
Volume		str. 1920-1935
ISSN		1660-3397 - Marine drugs
Language		eng
Abstract		As mammals are unable to synthesize essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), these compounds need to be taken in through diet. Nowadays, obtaining essential PUFA in diet is becoming increasingly difficult; therefore this work investigated the suitability of using macroalgae as novel dietary sources of PUFA. Hence, 17 macroalgal species from three different phyla (Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta) were analyzed and their fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) profile was assessed. Each phylum presented acharacteristic fatty acid signature as evidenced by clustering of PUFA profiles of algae belonging to the same phylum in a Principal Components Analysis. The major PUFA detected in all phyla were C18and C20, namely linoleic, arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids. The obtained data showed that rhodophytes and phaeophytes have higher concentrations of PUFA, particularly from the n-3 series, thereby being a better source of these compounds. Moreover, rhodophytes and phaeophytes presented "healthier" [sum]n-6/[sum]n-3 and PUFA/saturated fatty acid ratios than chlorophytes. Ulvawas an exception within the Chlorophyta, as it presented high concentrations of n-3 PUFA, [alpha]-linolenic acid in particular. In conclusion, macroalgae can be considered as a potential source for large-scaleproduction of essential PUFA with wide applications in the nutraceutical and pharmacological industries.
Keywords		marine macroalgae nutrition PUFA morske alge prehrana PUFA