University of Coimbra project for the valorisation of sargassum
The main goal is to identify business opportunities to promote local development within marine economics.
Abridged version in English by Diana Taborda
A research team from the University of Coimbra (UC) is leading a project that aims to develop innovative products from "sargaço" (sargassum), the name given on the north coast to the mixture of different algae that grow on rocky platforms and are detached from the rocks by the movement of waves, being deposited on the seashore.
The project "ValSar: Valorisation of the Northern Coast Sargasso", financed by European funds (FEAMP) through MAR2020 - GAL Costeiro Litoral Norte, proposes to develop new biofertilizers and biostimulants (organic natural product, generally poor in nutrients, but rich in bioactive compounds that stimulate natural processes of a crop, such as nutrient absorption, among others) for use in agriculture, as well as to evaluate the potential use of the bioactive compounds of the "sargasso" in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors.
The project, carried out with the collaboration of the Coimbra Agricultural College (ESAC) and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), and with the support of the municipalities of Vila do Conde and Póvoa do Varzim, aims to identify business opportunities to promote local development within the marine economics. It consists of three phases - characterization of the sargassum; study, selection and testing of the compounds extracted from the sargassum; and dissemination of the knowledge produced, not only to the scientific community and the general public, but also to investors.
To achieve the project's objectives, the team began by seasonally characterising the diversity, quantity and chemical and biochemical composition of the algae mixture. According to Cristina Rocha, researcher of MARE | UC Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, this characterisation "allows us to identify the different bioactive compounds of the sargassum and select the most promising ones for the products we intend to develop, i.e. for the valorisation we propose".
Based on this information, the researchers will now move on to the preparation of extracts. For the agricultural sector, the project aims to develop a fertilizing corrective substrate, mixing the sargassum with "solid urban waste to try to obtain a richer compound, which enhances better crop growth, because these algae have many mineral compounds, some of them, for example, iodine, which we can't get in a compound based only on bio-waste. We will also develop biostimulants," says the MARE-FCTUC researcher.
At the same time, the team will explore the other line of products aimed at the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sector. Knowing that seaweed has many bioactive compounds, "with different biological activities, such as antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and antitumor, we will prepare extracts and test the bioactive compounds of these extracts in exposure assays of immune system cells and cell lines that represent the skin - the epidermis and dermis. Through these tests, which will be carried out at the Centre for Neurosciences and Cell Biology (CNC-UC), we will be able to identify the dermatological potential of sargasso, i.e., we will study anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, regenerative, anti-aging and anti-allergic properties, among others," explains the project leader.