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Phycobiliproteins, nitrogenous compounds and fatty acid contents in field-collected and cultured gametophytes of Porphyra dioica, a red sea vegetable

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Abstract

The extensive variation in the biochemical composition of algal species is used as a source of potential bioactive compounds for applications in the agri-food industry and in the field of functional foods. Among these species, Porphyra/Pyropia spp. (nori, laver) are red sea vegetables which provide the foundation for a billion-dollar industry. In this study, we determine the growth and biochemical composition of distinct reproductive traits (females vs. males) in Porphyra dioica. In order to characterize and enhance through cultivation the bioactive profiles and biochemical composition of this sea vegetable, we determined the effects of environmental parameters (light and nutrients) on the growth of different life history traits (females vs. males) in cultured and field samples of P. dioica. In field-collected samples, females contained higher contents of phycoerythrin (9.71 ± 3.13 mg g−1 DW), PUFA (omega-3 fatty acids, 12.25 ± 0.78 mg g−1 DW; eicosapentaenoic acid, 11.54 ± 0.92 mg g−1 DW) and total fatty acids (TFA) (31.58 ± 2.5 mg g−1 DW) than males. The total nitrogen (TN) content was similar in both traits in the field, but the protein nitrogen (PN) was higher in males from field collections (42.80 mg g−1 DW). In culture, males and females responded differently to applied environmental factors, with an increase of some omega-6 fatty acids (e.g. 20:4 n-6 with an increase of 4.98 %TFA, 0.1 mg g−1 DW) in females and omega-7,9 fatty acids in males (increase of 13.75 %TFA, 0.79 mg g−1 DW in omega-7 and 1.59 %TFA in omega-9) associated with exposure to adverse conditions (N starvation under low light intensity). We discuss the possibility of using P. dioica as a promising source of functional new food products such as enriched nori in bioactive compounds such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Ireland) Project Reference No: 13/F/536 ‘Profiling and optimising chemical composition of red sea vegetables for enhanced bioactive yields’. We thank Liam Cronin for assistance with field sampling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany and Plant Science, School of Natural Sciences, Ryan Institute for Environmental, Marine and Energy Research, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland

    Elena Varela-Álvarez, Freddy Guihéneuf & Dagmar B. Stengel

  2. CCMAR, Centro de Ciências do Mar, CIMAR Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal

    Elena Varela-Álvarez

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Paul R. Tobin & Richard J. FitzGerald

  4. SAS inalve, 181 Chemin du Lazaret, 06230, Villefranche sur mer, France

    Freddy Guihéneuf

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  1. Elena Varela-Álvarez
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Correspondence to Elena Varela-Álvarez.

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TABLE S1

Fatty acid composition (% of total FAME) of samples of P. dioica in Experiment 1, after 5 days culture under: 90 μmol photons m−2 s−1, 60 μmol photons m−2 s−1, 30 μmol photons m−2 s−1 with lab control values, and after 2.5 days culture under a post N-starvation treatment at 20 μmol photons m−2 s−1. TFA, total fatty acid contents are given as % of DW. Omega fatty acid families were considering grouping single fatty acids as: omega 3: 16:3 n-3, 18:3 n-3, 18:4 n-3, 20:5 n-3; omega 6: 18:2 n-6; 18:3 n-6, 20:2 n-6; 20:3 n-6, 20:4 n-6; omega 7: 16:1 n-7 and 18:1 n-7; omega 9: 18:1 n-9, 20:1 n-9, 22:1 n-9. Mean ± SD (n = 3–6). (DOCX 67 kb)

TABLE S2

Fatty acid composition (mg g-1 DW) of samples of P. dioica in Experiment 1, after in 5 days culture under: 90 μmol photons m−2 s−1, 60 μmol photons m−2 s−1, 30 μmol photons m−2 s−1 with lab control values, and after 2.5 days culture under a post N-starvation treatment at 20 μmol photons m−2 s−1. Omega 3: 16:3 n-3, 18:3 n-3, 18:4 n-3, 20:5 n-3; omega 6: 18:2 n-6; 18:3 n-6, 20:2 n-6; 20:3 n-6, 20:4 n-6; omega 7: 16:1 n-7 and 18:1 n-7; omega 9: 18:1 n-9, 20:1 n-9, 22:1 n-9. Mean ± SD (n = 3–6). (DOCX 231 kb)

TABLE S3

ANOVA summary table for 20:4 n-6 (% TFA), Experiment 1, Stage 1 (5 days culture). (DOCX 231 kb)

TABLE S4

ANOVA summary table for 18:2 n-6 (mg g-1 DW), Experiment 1, Stage 1 (5 days culture). (DOCX 231 kb)

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Varela-Álvarez, E., Tobin, P.R., Guihéneuf, F. et al. Phycobiliproteins, nitrogenous compounds and fatty acid contents in field-collected and cultured gametophytes of Porphyra dioica, a red sea vegetable. J Appl Phycol 31, 3849–3860 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-019-01841-6

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