FEATURE
Algotherapy in aquaculture production
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by MJ van Schoonhoven, Olmix, France
here are many beauties to be found in the world, but one of the true treasures is provided by the seas in the form of algae. Algae can be divided in microalgae and macroalgae, the later more commonly known as seaweeds. Seaweeds are a very diverse group of aquatic plants, which can be divided into three main categories: green, red and brown seaweeds, each of them with their own distinguishing set of polysaccharides. When looking at the composition of seaweeds, they contain a variable part of carbohydrates (mainly polysaccharides), proteins, minerals, lipids and vitamins. Nutritional studies on marine algae indicate that green, brown and red seaweeds possess good nutritional characteristics and could be used as an alternative
source of dietary fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals (Chojnacka et al., 2012; Raposo et al., 2013). In addition, detailed screening of macroalgae functions revealed new ranges of biological activities including anticoagulant, antiviral and antibacterial, anti-tumoral, antiproliferative and immuno-modulatory activities. All of them could be of relevance in nutraceutical functional food (Wijesekara et al., 2011a). Green, brown and red macroalgae cell walls contain large amounts of sulphated polysaccharides, named ulvans, fucoidans and carrageenans respectively, making up from four to 76 percent of seaweed dry weight (Holdt et al., 2011). The high content of these sulphated polysaccharides, their unusual structure, and their biological properties shed a new light on these compounds as promising natural products for medicinal and dietary applications (Rioux et al., 2007; Laurienzo et al., 2010).
Figure 1: Mode of action of MSPIMMUNITY
18 | December 2017 - International Aquafeed