Avtor/Urednik     Pereira, Hugo; Barreira, Luísa; Figueiredo, Filipe; Custódio, Luísa; Vizetto-Duarte, Catarina; Polo, Cristina; Hafner, Eva; Engelen, Aschwin; Varela, João
Naslov     Polyunsaturated fatty acids of marine macroalgae
Tip     članek
Vol. in št.     Letnik 10, št. 9
Leto izdaje     2012
Obseg     str. 1920-1935
ISSN     1660-3397 - Marine drugs
Jezik     eng
Abstrakt     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.
Proste vsebinske oznake     marine macroalgae
nutrition
PUFA
morske alge
prehrana
PUFA