This study was carried out to determine the main pigments in some different selected seaweeds and to reveal their antioxidant potential regarding the ever-increasing demand for utilization of marine pigments in human health and nutrition. The individual amounts of algal pigments were found by reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and their total antioxidant capacities (TAC) by two spectrophotometric TAC assays, namely: CUPRAC (CUPric ion Reducing Antioxidant Capacity) and ABTS/TEAC (2,2′-azinobis [3-ethyl benzo thiazoline-6-sulfonate])/(trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity). These two tests gave the same rank order for TAC. The TAC of HPLC-quantified compounds accounted for a relatively much lower percentage of the observed CUPRAC capacities of seaweed extracts, namely ranging from 11 to 68% for brown, from 4 to 41% for red and from 3 to 100% for green species, i.e., some TAC originated from chromatographically unidentified compounds. Fucoxanthin, chlorophyll a, and pheophytin a compounds were major pigments in brown algae. The relative carotenoid contents in red marine algae were generally lower than those of chlorophylls. Overall total quantities were quite low compared with those of brown species. In general, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b were chiefly present in green algae, but β-carotene, violaxanthin and siphonaxanthin were also detected substantially higher in some species of green algae such as Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea and Codium fragile.
Phytomyxids (Phytomyxea) are obligate endosymbionts of many organisms such as algae, diatoms, oomycetes and higher plants including seagrasses. Despite their supposed significant roles in the marine ecosystem, our knowledge of their marine diversity and distribution as well as their life cycles is very limited. Here we describe anatomy and morphology of several developmental stages of a phytomyxid symbiosis recently discovered on the petioles of the alien seagrass Halophila stipulacea (Forssk.) Asch. at a locality in the southeast Aegean Sea. Its earliest whitish stages appeared already on the youngest leaves at the apex of the newly formed rhizomes. The infected host cells grew in volume being filled with plasmodia which resulted in the formation of characteristic macroscopic galls. The plasmodia eventually cleaved into spores and in the final stage recorded by us, the dark brown to black galls contained mature resting spores often occurring in duplexes and possessing thick verrucous outer walls. Based on its anatomo-morphological features the phytomyxid was assigned as Plasmodiophora cf. halophilae. Little is so far known about the origins and eco-physiological functioning of this rare symbiosis. However, seemingly similar infection patterns were reported in 1913 on Halophila ovalis (R. Br.) Hook. f. from Java and in 1995 on H. stipulacea from Sicily. Since H. stipulacea is of the Indo-Pacific origin and no phytomyxid infection was observed on the co-occurring autochthonous seagrass Cymodocea nodosa, we hypothesize that its phytomyxid might have co-migrated into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, potentially reaching as far as the southern Ionian Sea.
There is a preference for natural food products and functional food ingredients, which are believed to benefit human health and exist inherently in foods, instead of receiving compounds chemically synthesized. Moreover, to strong immunity system is among people's highest priority in a post-pandemic era as the Covid-19 pandemic caused the catastrophic effects. In particular, bioactive extracts or single functional food components that can prevent nutrition-related diseases have huge importance for human nutrition and promote the human immune system (Galanakis, 2021). In this context, finding alternative, cheap, natural, and sustainable food resources such as macroalgae, duckweed, and insects for bioactive compounds is one of the trend research topics.Macroalgae are renewable sources that live in the marine ecosystem and are excellent for human nutrition, also have an important commercial potential as a functional ingredient in a variety of foods (Cofrades et al., 2017;García-Vaquero et al., 2017). In particular, proteins as one of the essential nutrients isolated from macroalgae have various bioactive properties such as antioxidant, anticancer,
Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile 1813 is an endemic and the most widespread seagrass species of the Mediterranean Sea. Seagrass meadows are one of the most productive ecosystems on Earth, providing habitat to numerous organisms. Therefore, mapping of seagrass meadows is of crucial importance for conservation and coastal management purposes. Here we present an integrated geographic information system approach with SCUBA diving, providing a cost effective method to monitor seagrass beds at shallow coastal habitats. In this case study P. oceanica meadows were mapped in Ufakdere region of Kaş (Antalya) coastal area between April-September 2015. A total of 25000 m 2 are were screened to create seagrass coverage maps. Results indicate that P. oceanica meadows cover 21200 m 2 and we estimated that 520 m 2 of this area is highly damaged. This integrated approach provided one of the most detailed small-scale Posidonia mapping in Turkey and this time and cost effective methodology can be applied to any seagrass meadow with great ease to increase our knowledge on this important habitat.
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