Seaweed Seen As A Functional Compound Storehouse

The review of almost 100 scientific studies, published by the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, reports that some seaweed proteins contain the same effects as the bioactive peptides contained in milk products and dairy products, and work to reduce blood pressure much like ACE inhibitor drugs.

 
“Due to the environment wherein they grow, macroalgae produce unique and interesting biologically active compounds,” said Maria Hayes and colleagues from Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ireland as well as the University of London, UK.
“The variety of macroalga species and also the environments wherein they may be found and their ease of cultivation make macroalgae a somewhat untapped source of new bioactive compounds, and a lot more efforts are required to fully exploit their potential for use and delivery to consumers in food products,” they added.

 
The authors noted that this global expansion of the functional foods market signifies that researchers have turned to sourcing natural food bioactive peptides to supply preventative effects against cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndromes.
“Bioactive peptides are defined as food-derived peptides that exert a physiological hormone-like effect in humans beyond their basic, food value,” said Hayes and her team.  Currently, they are saying that the majority of bioactive peptides are actually isolated from milk-based products. However they think that seaweed nutrition undoubtedly is a rich but neglected alternative source.

 
“Marine organisms including seaweeds and microalgae, because of their exigent, competitive, and aggressive surroundings compared with terrestrial environments, produce specific and active biomolecules and secondary metabolites,” said the reviewers.
“These secondary metabolites result as a consequence of the tough conditions through which macroalgae exist, including extremes of salinity and temperature and UV–vis irradiation, alongside nutrient deficiencies,” they added.

 
From a nutritional viewpoint, Hayes and her team said, “edible macroalgae certainly are a low-calorie food, that has a high concentration of minerals, vitamins, and proteins and low lipid content.”  They noted that seaweeds and other algae sources are an excellent supply of vitamins A, C, D, and E, along with the B vitamins, and minerals including calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and potassium.

 
“The variety of macroalga species as well as the environments wherein they are found and their ease of cultivation make macroalgae a relatively untapped method to obtain new bioactive compounds, and even more efforts are needed to completely exploit their potential for use and delivery to consumers in food products,” concluded Hayes and her colleagues.
Macroalgae and microalgae are also the nutritional way to obtain PUFAs for a number of fish; “hence, macroalgae are also a viable source for these bioactive molecules,” they added.  The reviewers added that further research is required “to fully ascertain the effect that food-processing methods such as heating have on the bioactivity of peptides.”

 
“Although its been shown that peptides can retain bioactivity after being heated up to 100 °C, many processes such as baking reach temperatures as high as 230 °C. If these high temperatures become a barrier on the survival of the bioactivities of peptides, approaches to protecting these bioactivities in these environments, such as microencapsulation methods, need to be investigated,” they said.