Rafael Rodrigues Loureiro

Prospects and challenges for industrial production of seaweed bioactives

Large‐scale seaweed cultivation has been instrumental in globalizing the seaweed industry since the 1950s. The domestication of seaweed cultivars (begun in the 1940s) ended the reliance on natural cycles of raw material availability for some species, with efforts driven by consumer demands that far exceeded the available supplies. Currently, seaweed cultivation is unrivaled in mariculture with 94% of annual seaweed biomass utilized globally being derived from cultivated sources. In the last decade, research has confirmed seaweeds as rich sources of potentially valuable, health‐promoting compounds. Most existing seaweed cultivars and current cultivation techniques have been developed for producing commoditized biomass, and may not necessarily be optimized for the production of valuable bioactive compounds. The future of the seaweed industry will include the development of high value markets for functional foods, cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceuticals. Entry into these markets will require a level of standardization, efficacy, and traceability that has not previously been demanded of seaweed products. Both internal concentrations and composition of bioactive compounds can fluctuate seasonally, geographically, bathymetrically, and according to genetic variability even within individual species, especially where life history stages can be important. History shows that successful expansion of seaweed products into new markets requires the cultivation of domesticated seaweed cultivars. Demands of an evolving new industry based upon efficacy and standardization will require the selection of improved cultivars, the domestication of new species, and a refinement of existing cultivation techniques to improve quality control and traceability of products.

Extract powder from the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum (Linnaeus) Le Jolis (AMPEP): a “vaccine-like” effect on Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) Doty ex P.C. Silva

The benefits of using Acadian Marine Plant Extract Powder (AMPEP), obtained from the brown algae Ascophyllum nodosum, for improving growth of the red alga Kappaphycus alvarezii has been demonstrated by authors in the Philippines and Brazil, particularly for increasing daily growth rate and mitigation of epiphytes. However, the processes which occur have not been discussed. This study examined in vitro the relationship between those red algal defense mechanisms and K. alvarezii responses using AMPEP treatments. The administration of the extract reduced the effects of the oxidative burst (production of hydrogen peroxide) which may be extremely aggressive for an individual and its epiphyte. The bleaching of the non-corticated portions of Polysiphonia subtilissima thalli that were cultivated as simulated epiphytes with AMPEP samples confirmed that the reaction was evident in which AMPEP protected K. alvarezii from the hydrogen peroxide effects. It is proposed that the use of the brown seaweed powder AMPEP acts as a potential vaccine, eliciting activation of the red seaweed K. alvarezii natural defenses against pathogens and ameliorating the negative effects of long-term exposure to oxidative bursts.

Impacts of AMPEP on Epiphytes and Diseases in Kappaphycus and Eucheuma Cultivation

The causes for epiphyte outbreaks known as ‘goose bumps’ and the ‘ice-ice’ malaise are generally assigned to be due to stresses resulting from rapid shifts in environmental parameters, followed by fungal, bacterial and algal infestations. These conditions are responsible for the loss of many Kappaphycus and Eucheuma ‘seedlings’ affecting the quantity and quality of biomass from farming operations, which mainly affect poor coastal communities which rely on macroalgal farming as their only source of cash income. “Acadian Marine Plant Extract Powder” (an acronym coined by Hurtado – AMPEP) is a commercial extract from the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum; it has proven to be, amongst other macroalgal-based extracts, one of the most promising solutions to ameliorate the harmful consequences of “disease” outbreaks; mode of action is suggested as being via elicitation of the treated eucheumatoid’s own defense mechanisms thereby dampening epiphyte spore germination and establishment, while improving daily growth rate and carrageenan gel yield and quality (i.e. molecular weight).