2.1. Nutritional Composition of Seaweeds
The chemical composition of seaweeds is shown in
Table 1. The protein content of the studied macroalgae ranged from 9.81 to 34.79 g/100 g DW and red algae obtained the highest values. These results are in line with Sanchez-Machado [
14] who also reported that the highest protein content corresponded to
Porphyra purpurea and Taboada [
15] who found 33.2 g protein/100 g DW for that species [
15]. Indeed, the protein values obtained for red macroalgae are comparable to other traditional protein source foods, such as soybean, cereals, eggs, and fish [
16]. In contrast, brown algae showed the lowest protein content except for
Undaria pinnatifida whose values were like green macroalgae. This was an expected result since Garcia-Vaquero [
16] concluded that brown seaweeds had low protein content and within this group,
U. pinnatifida sample was the species that showed the highest value (up to 24 g/100 g DW). Our results are also comparable to those by Taboada [
15] who reported 16.8 g protein/100 g DW for
U. pinnatifida. All the analyzed seaweeds are a reliable source of carbohydrates, which ranged from 41.54 to 65.92 g/100 g DW, and brown algae showed the highest values. As polysaccharides synthesis could influence protein formation [
16], the highest carbohydrate content observed in brown algae are in consonance with their previously reported low protein values. Likewise, Taboada [
15] found that the carbohydrate content of
U. pinnatifida and
P. purpurea was 53.9 and 44.5 g/100 g DW, respectively. Seaweed carbohydrates are mainly composed of polysaccharides (in the sulfated and non-sulfated forms depending on the algae species) with a low proportion of di- and monosaccharides [
17]. The main polysaccharides from brown algae are alginate, fucoidans, and laminarin [
18]. Red seaweeds are rich in agar, carrageenan, sulfated galactans, xylans, and xylogalactans, while green algae contain mainly ulvan [
18]. Most of these compounds have been widely explored for their hydrocolloid properties amplifying their use as emulsifiers, stabilizers, and viscosity-controlling ingredients in several applications [
19]. In addition, other works have ascribed important bioactivities to macroalgae polysaccharides, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antidiabetic, and antimicrobial activities, suggesting that seaweeds open the door to innovative and technological applications in food, nutrition, and pharmaceutical industries [
20].
The total lipid content was very low in most of the studied species and ranged from 0.33 to 4.22 g/100 g DM. Sanchez-Machado [
14] reported that the total lipid content of seaweeds is low and represents less than 4% of dry weight. Among the studied seaweeds, the highest lipid content was observed in
Palmaria palmata (4.22%), and this was comparable with results found by Lopes [
21]. Regarding brown algae species, similar lipid contents in
Himanthalia elongata,
U. pinnatifida and
Laminaria ochroleuca (1.74, 1.24, and 0.72 g/100 g dry weight, respectively) were observed with respect to the values reported by Sanchez-Machado [
14].
The fatty acids (FAs) composition of the studied seaweeds is displayed in
Table 2. Saturated FAs had the main contribution to the total FAs content in all the analyzed species (43.95–64.12%) except for
Ulva rigida (31.84%) and
U. pinnatifida (31.70%). Palmitic acid (C16:0) was the most abundant compound within this group and
P. palmata was the species that showed the highest relative content (42.05%). In addition, red algae showed the highest stearic acid content (C18:0). Similar results were found by Sanchez-Machado [
14] who reported that saturated FAs were predominant compounds in red macroalgae. Such a result agrees with our results, where the red seaweed
P. palmata exhibited the highest content of saturated FAs (
Table 2). Regarding monounsaturated FAs (MUFAs), oleic acid (C18:1) was the most abundant MUFA in all the analyzed species and UR showed the main contribution to the total MUFAs obtaining the highest value (29.51% of total FAs). In line with these results, Yaich [
22] found that palmitic and oleic acid in
U. rigida represented about 76% of the total FAs. Concerning polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs),
U. pinnatifida showed a predominant contribution to the total PUFAs (44.92%) while for the rest of the studied species, PUFAs content ranged from 13.99 to 30.00% (
Table 2). The same tendency was reported by Sanchez-Machado [
14] who also found that
U. pinnatifida showed a significant contribution to the total PUFAs. Linoleic acid (C18:2 ω6), an essential fatty acid, was present in all the analyzed seaweeds and brown species (except
Saccharina latissima) were those that exhibited the major content. Another essential fatty acid of great interest is linolenic acid (C18:3 ω3) which was also present in all the studied macroalgae, and
U. pinnatifida showed the highest value (24.72% of total FAs) followed by
U. rigida (14.25%) an
H. elongata (11.46%). These results show that
U. pinnatifida is a promising source rich in ω3 fatty acids. On the other hand, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6 ω3), especially interesting for its contribution to infant brain development, was only detected in
P. palmata but in a low relative content [
23,
24].
Furthermore, interesting results were found for the balance between ω6 and ω3 FAs since all the analyzed seaweeds showed low ω6/ω3 ratio values, below the recommended range (2–5:1). Indeed,
P. palmata,
Codium tomentosum,
U. rigida, and
U. pinnatifida exhibited a <1 ratio, due to the higher ω3 FAs proportion. In the Western diet, the ω6/ω3 ratio ranges from 15:1 to 20:1 due to the high consumption of ω6 FAs from terrestrial plants’ oils and the insufficient intake of ω3 FAs [
24]. In this regard, the inclusion of the studied seaweeds in the diet could potentially contribute to reducing the unbalanced PUFAs ratio and thus, improving the nutritional quality of the Western diet.
The micro- and macro-minerals composition of the studied seaweeds is presented in
Table 3. Results suggested that all the analyzed seaweeds are a rich source of nutritionally relevant minerals such as iron, manganese, iodine, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus.
U. rigida sample recorded the highest values for Fe and Mn and were greater than those reported by Mæhre [
24]. In addition,
U. rigida was the highest source of Mg, which was also observed by Mæhre [
24]. Higher content of macrominerals was observed for all the studied macroalgae when compared to values found for conventional vegetables. In addition, iodine, an essential micronutrient with a key contribution to the synthesis of thyroid hormones, was also present in all the analyzed seaweeds. In fact, great variability in iodine content between and within macroalgae classes was observed which ranged from 82 mg/kg (
P. purpurea) to 5829 mg/kg (
L. ochroleuca). These results were in line with those compiled by Holdt [
25] who also stated that
Laminaria sp. can accumulate iodine up to 30,000 times the concentration found in seawater. In this context, an excessive consumption of
L. ochroleuca and
S. latissima could lead to undesirable effects.
In conclusion, variations in nutritional composition between algae species were seen. These differences can be attributed to phyla, harvesting season, environmental conditions, and geographical location.
2.2. Performance of Seaweeds as an Alternative Bioenergy Resource
Table 4 depicts the proximate and ultimate analyses of the studied seaweeds. Concerning the proximate analysis, differences in moisture content between algae species were seen and ranged from 5.9% for
C. tomentosum to 14.9% for
S. latissima. Although these results are comparable to values reported for other terrestrial biomasses, a low moisture content of the feedstock is preferred for the pyrolysis process [
26].
Ash content differed between seaweeds species (15.1–38.9%) and was higher than other biomass generally used for pyrolysis processes (e.g., 3.8–16% for leaves of various trees, 6.7% for sugar cane bagasse, 1% for wood, and 0.8% for briquette) [
26]. This result is in line with that previously mentioned about the higher mineral content of seaweed in comparison to terrestrial plants. The salt content of sea water and rocks, where macroalgae can be generally found, have a significant contribution to this effect [
28]. In addition, the analyzed macroalgae species exhibited lower volatile matter content (41.3–61.8%) than the values reported for terrestrial energy crops (66.8–85.3%) [
26]. This is attributed to the lack of lignocellulosic compounds (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) in seaweeds composition which are structurally predominant in many terrestrial plants. By contrast, unique polysaccharides (previously mentioned) constitute the main carbohydrate fraction of seaweeds and thus, can be depolymerized easier than lignocellulosic plants [
10,
29]. For acting as a promising energy resource, biofuels should meet two important requirements: present a maximum of 20% of ash content to avoid operational problems associated with ash composition [
26] (e.g., slagging, fouling, sintering, and corrosion) and exhibit a high volatile matter content to be more available to thermal degradation during pyrolysis process [
26]. In this context, among the studied seaweeds,
P. purpurea showed the lowest ash content and the highest volatile matter, suggesting that could be a potential alternative for biofuel production based on the pyrolysis pathway. In addition, a suitable treatment for removing the seaweeds’ ash content prior to conducting a pyrolysis process should be designed with a large-scale biofuel production perspective. The proportion of fixed carbon in the studied seaweeds (13.3–19.1%) are in line with values reported for other terrestrial biomasses, except for
U. rigida, which showed the lowest fixed carbon value, <6% (
Table 4). For biochar production, fixed carbon is needed to be used as carbonaceous materials during biomass pyrolysis [
28]. Thus, based on this parameter,
P. palmata could produce more biochar and other pyrolysis products than
U. rigida.
Regarding ultimate analysis, seaweeds showed lower carbon and hydrogen content and higher nitrogen and oxygen proportion than values reported for other terrestrial biomasses, except for
P. purpurea which showed carbon and hydrogen values comparable to content reported for sugar cane straw. For example, the basic elemental composition for typical biomasses used for combustion, such as sugar cane bagasse, wood, and briquette, ranges between 46.7–57.2% for C, 6.1–6.4% for H, 0–1.2% for N, and 41.5–45.5% for O [
30]. Nitrogen is present in many biological compounds of seaweeds, such as proteins, chlorophyll, amino acids, and vitamins [
30]. Higher nitrogen content could be problematic during the thermochemical conversion of seaweed biomasses since toxic and corrosive nitric oxides (NOx) could be released leading to a negative environmental impact [
28].
The high heating values of the analyzed macroalgae were in the range 14.07–19.08 MJ/kg and were similar to values reported for terrestrial energy crops (17–20 MJ/kg) [
29].
Figure 2 displays thermograms from TG, DTG, and DSC analyses that allowed finding the thermochemical behavior of seaweeds during the pyrolysis process. According to the TG curves, all the studied seaweeds showed similar thermochemical behavior, and three stages of biomass pyrolysis were identified. The first stage corresponds to dehydration and evaporation of highly volatile matter and occurred within the range of 20–150 °C. In this stage, small weight loss (in general 10%) for all samples was recorded. DTG curves confirmed that the biomasses dehydration occurred at 75–100 °C. Complementarily, from DSC analysis, an endothermic point of inflection at 75–100 °C for all samples was seen, which suggests that seaweeds absorbed heat to evaporate their moisture content (
Figure 2). The second stage refers to devolatilization reactions and took place in the range of 175–600 °C. In this stage, the major biomass weight loss as volatile matter was recorded. According to the DTG curves, the maximum weight loss occurred at ca. 250 °C for all samples and was comparable to values reported by Kebelmann [
30] for several macroalgal species. In general, the pyrolytic decomposition of the analyzed seaweeds took place at lower temperatures with respect to the values reported for lignocellulosic biomasses [
29] (straws, grasses, woody biomass, etc.) since hemicellulose degrades within the range of 220–260 °C while cellulose degrades at 315–390 °C [
30]. Thus, the significant weight loss observed for the analyzed seaweeds is mainly attributed to the marine polysaccharides’ decomposition, as previously observed by other authors [
31]. In addition, a less intense point of inflection at 320 °C was detected in the DTG curves of some samples, which could be ascribed to the protein content degradation [
29]. As was expected, the organic material degradation follows an exothermic behavior, and thus two peaks at 175 °C and another at 250–300 °C was seen in DSC curves for all samples, which was more intense for
P. purpurea (
Figure 2G),
U. rigida (
Figure 2A), and
U. pinnatifida (
Figure 2C). Differences seen in decomposition rates obtained for all seaweeds can be attributed to differences in their chemical composition and natural structure.
The third stage corresponds to decomposition of volatile matter released in the previous stage with remaining protein and carbonaceous solids [
31]. According to the DTG curves, samples degradation occurred slowly and thus, the weight loss was low (
Figure 2). This fact could be ascribed to the slow degradation of the formed residue (biochar) [
28]. In addition, some samples showed another point of inflection at 700–800 °C in the DTG curves which was more intense for
U. rigida (
Figure 2A). This additional mass degradation could be attributed to the devolatilization of inorganic compounds [
28], which probably determine the amount of biochar produced [
31]. Consistently, an exothermic peak at 700 °C was seen in DSC curves for some macroalgae, and
U. rigida recorded the maximum intensity.
2.3. Performance of Seaweeds as a Promising Source of Bioactive Compounds
Table 5 shows the extraction yield, total phenolic content, total carotenoid content, and total antioxidant activity obtained for aqueous–organic extracts of the studied seaweeds. Significant differences (
p < 0.05) in the extraction yield were found between seaweed species (regardless of the seaweed class) ranging from 20.55 to 47.29% (
Table 5,
Figure S1). This can be ascribed to different polarities and solubility of the bioactive compounds in the mixture of aqueous methanolic and acetonic extracts, as well as to variations in chemical composition among species [
32].
S. latissima,
L. ochroleuca, and
C. tomentosum showed the highest extraction yields (44.30–47.29%), suggesting a higher release of polar soluble compounds such as phytochemical compounds, polysaccharides, proteins, peptides, and organic acids from these species (
Table 5,
Figure S1) [
32]. By contrast,
P. purpurea exhibited the lowest extraction yield (~20%) and could indicate that bioactive compounds may have higher polarity [
32], thus requiring more polar solvents for their extraction. However, the extraction yields obtained for all the analyzed seaweeds were higher than the values reported in the literature [
33]. Many works have proposed that the extraction procedure of bioactive compounds from biological tissues should combine at least two extraction steps and use aqueous organic solvents with different polarities to extract bioactive compounds with diverse chemical structures [
34]. In this regard, the application of heat-assisted extraction in combination with aqueous methanolic and acetonic extracts resulted in an effective procedure for the recovery of bioactive compounds of different structures from seaweeds.
Regarding phenolic compounds, TPC for all the analyzed seaweed ranged from 366.48 to 3448.55 µg/g DM, and significant differences (
p < 0.05) between species (regardless of the seaweed class) were observed (
Table 5,
Figure S1). While
P. purpurea and
H. elongata showed the highest TPC (~3 mg GAE/g DM),
U. rigida,
U. pinnatifida, and
L. ochroleuca registered the lowest values with no statistical differences between them (<0.6 mg GAE/g DM). As it can be seen in some cases, the extraction yield should not be strictly related to the phenolics content released from seaweeds, thus suggesting the presence of other chemical constituents in the obtained extracts. In this regard, other constituents, such as proteins or reducing sugars in seaweed extracts, can also reduce the Folin–Ciocalteu reagent, overestimating the phenolic content [
35]. In addition, other authors reported that the extraction yield may not be correlated with the phytochemical content of extracts [
36]. Comparing our results with those values found by other authors is a challenging task due to different extraction procedures used (solvent, temperature, etc.) and the method of expressing results (mg GAE per g extract instead of g DM). Despite this, some similarities in TPC with other works were found [
37]. Polyphenolic compounds such as phlorotannins, bromophenols, flavonoids, phenolic terpenoids, and mycosporine-like amino acids have been found in seaweeds [
9]. While phlorotannins are the main polyphenolic group present in brown algae, bromophenols, flavonoids, phenolic terpenoids, and mycosporine-like amino acids were observed in red and green seaweeds [
9].
Concerning total carotenoids, significant differences in TCC between seaweed species (regardless of the seaweed class) were also reported, ranging from 61.27 to 295.24 µg/g DM (
Table 5,
Figure S1).
U. rigida,
C. tomentosum,
L. ochroleuca, and
P. purpurea exhibited the highest values (>200 µg/g DM), while
S. latissima and
P. palmata presented the lowest TCC (<80 µg/g DM). These results were higher than those reported by other authors and differences can be attributed to the method used for quantification, the inherent characteristics of species, environmental conditions that algae are exposed to, geographical location, harvesting period, etc. [
38].
Carotenoids are considered as the major seaweed pigments, including xanthophylls and carotenes. The main pigment found in brown algae is fucoxanthin which has been widely studied for its promising biological activities, acting as a potent antioxidant, cytoprotective, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, antidiabetic agent [
39]. In addition, β-carotene was also recorded in brown algae. Among red seaweeds, β-carotene, α-carotene, zeaxanthin, and lutein have been the main carotenoids reported [
40]. For green macroalgae, the carotenoid composition includes β-carotene, lutein, violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, zeaxanthin, and neoxanthin [
40]. In this regard, the analyzed seaweeds represent a valuable source of carotenoids with diverse chemical structures which make them interesting alternatives to the artificial colorants commonly used in the food industry, whose controversial safety issues cause rejection among health-concerned consumers. Besides their intense color, they have important health-related properties, being potentially used as functional ingredients.
Regarding DPPH scavenging activity, only
H. elongata showed DPPH radical quenching ability among all the studied seaweeds, exhibiting
IC50 values of 5.78 ± 0.26 mg/mL (
Table 5). The model parameters and determination coefficient are shown in
Table S1. The rest of the samples were not able to achieve the 50% of radicals scavenging at the studied concentrations. This result suggests that other compounds (namely polysaccharides, proteins) also extracted from seaweeds were partially dissolved in the DPPH methanolic solution and then, interfered in the measurement method. However, better results were obtained for ABTS radical scavenging activity, since most of the analyzed seaweeds showed high radical quenching ability with effective concentrations ranging from 0.50 to 7.73 mg/mL (
Table 5). The model parameters and determination coefficients are shown in
Table S1. For instance,
L. ochroleuca (
IC50, 0.50 mg/mL) and
H. elongata (
IC50, 0.70 mg/mL) showed the highest ABTS radical scavenging activity while green algae recorded the lowest values. Indeed, these values were comparable with effective concentrations found by Chakraborty [
41] for α-tocopherol (
IC50, 0.73 mg/mL), indicating that
L. ochroleuca and
H. elongata may have a similar ability to scavenge ABTS radical as compared to the commonly used antioxidant in the food industry. Based on these results, the high bioactive compounds content (TPC and TCC) of
H. elongata could be related to its ABTS radical scavenging activities, suggesting that phenolic and carotenoid compounds may manage the radical deactivation.
Regarding the β-carotene bleaching inhibition assay,
P. purpurea recorded the highest antioxidant activity among seaweeds as it was able to delay β-carotene oxidation by 50% up to 2401 min per mg of extract (
Table 5). Similarly,
H. elongata,
U. pinnatifida and
U. rigida also showed a reliable performance, causing an oxidation delay for 1679, 917, and 762 min per mg of extract, respectively. These results suggest that antioxidant compounds with lipophilic nature present in these samples could protect β-carotene when exposed to the linoleate free radicals and other free radicals produced in the system, therefore delaying lipid oxidation. In this context, these extracts could be further studied for their potential use as natural antioxidants in a real lipid-based system, such as food emulsions, as recently proposed by García-Pérez [
42].
Concerning crocin bleaching inhibition assay,
P. purpurea was again the species that recorded the highest antioxidant activity, delaying the crocin oxidation by 50% up to 211 min per mg of extract (
Table 5).
H. elongata was also able to prevent the crocin discoloration, extending its protection by 50% up to 145 min per mg of extract. The rest of the species showed low crocin protection since higher amounts of extract should be added to delay the crocin oxidation for a considerable period. This could indicate that antioxidant compounds from these species have lipophilic characteristics since they showed low responses when exposed to aqueous systems [
43].
As can be seen, different behaviors of seaweed extract were observed between the four antioxidant activity assays studied. These variations can be attributed that the mixture of phytochemical structures present in seaweed extracts showed different solubility in each solvent used in the antioxidant activity assays (DPPH methanolic solution, ABTS ethanolic solution, β-carotene emulsion, and aqueous crocin solution). This indicates the complex phytochemical structures in seaweed extracts may employ different mechanisms to exert antioxidant activity. For instance, while U. rigida showed no DPPH and ABTS antiradical activity, this species was able to delay the β-carotene oxidation to a greater extent than the rest of the algae.
Concerning the anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activity of seaweed extracts, results are displayed in
Table 6. In the case of anti-inflammatory activity, only 4 seaweed species showed a moderate performance, being those from
P. purpurea and
C. tomentosum the most active extracts, exhibiting
IC50 values of 193 and 264 mg/mL, respectively. However, these results are >96% lower than those of dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug used as a positive control (
Table 6). The highest activity found for
P. purpurea could be motivated by the high rates of phenolic compounds and carotenoids previously described, as it has been proposed by other seaweed species and terrestrial plants [
44,
45]. Concerning the anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activity of seaweed extracts, results are displayed in
Table 6. In the case of anti-inflammatory activity, only four seaweed species showed a moderate performance, being those from
P. purpurea and
C. tomentosum the most active extracts, exhibiting
IC50 values of 193 and 264 mg/mL, respectively. However, these results are >96% lower than those of dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug used as a positive control (
Table 6).
The highest activity found for
P. purpurea could be motivated by the high rates of phenolic compounds and carotenoids previously described, as it has been proposed by other seaweed species and terrestrial plants [
44,
45]. In this regard, Lee [
46] recently determined the anti-inflammatory mechanisms associated with
Porphyra extracts, showing a multifaceted mode of action involving nitric oxide scavenging, the inhibition of pro-inflammatory mediators, and the induction of antioxidant enzymes. On the other hand, the results for the cytotoxic activity of seaweed extracts showed a negligible effect, with effective concentrations > 400 mg/mL (
Table 6). This
a priori negative result can be useful in the case of the Vero cell line, as it suggests that macroalgae do not show a cytotoxic effect towards healthy cell lines, which makes their incorporation in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products easier from a safety point of view. It is important to note that, despite the lack of activity in these extracts, there is wide evidence about the cytotoxic activity of pure compounds isolated from macroalgae, especially fucoidan, bromophenols, and fucoxanthin [
47]. This opens a new perspective for the search of bioactive compounds from seaweeds, tackling the application of purification strategies with the aim of obtaining more active extracts.