RT journal article
T1 Influence of irradiance, dissolved nutrients and salinity on the colour and nutritional characteristics of Gracilariopsis longissima (Rhodophyta)
A1 Bermejo Lacida, Ricardo
A1 Macías, Manuel
A1 Sánchez García, Josefa
A1 Love, Robyn
A1 Varela Alvarez, Elena
A1 Hernández Carrero, Ignacio
A2 Ingeniería Química y Tecnología de Alimentos
K1 Gracilariopsis
K1 Ogonori
K1 Colour
K1 Salinity
K1 Irradiance
K1 Nutrient
AB Colour is immediately perceived by the consumer and crucial for productattractiveness. In this study, the possibility of obtaining different colour schemes inthe rhodophyte Gracilariopsis longissima using short cultivation protocols (i.e. 9days) was explored. In a first factorial experiment, the effects of salinity (25‰, 35‰and 45‰), irradiance (60 and 120 μmol photons m-1 s-1) and nutrient conditions(N&P enrichment, no enrichment) on the growth, pigment concentration and colourof G. longissima were assessed. The results indicated that growth rate andphycocyanin were influenced by the three variables, whereas the concentration ofother pigments (cholophyll a, carotenoids and phycoerytrine) was significantlyinfluenced by irradiance and nutrient conditions. The colour, defined as the RGBsignal from the photographed thalli, was mainly affected by irradiance and nutrientconditions. In a second experiment, four culture conditions yielding the mostcontrasting colour schemes and growth rates were repeated scaling up theexperiment to get enough biomass and analyze nutritional properties (lipids, fattyacids, proteins, tissue N and P). The colour schemes and the corresponding cultureconditions selected were: i) dark red; high salinity, low irradiance, nutrientenrichment; ii) light red; medium salinity, high irradiance, nutrient enrichment; iii)brownish; low salinity, low irradiance; no enrichment; and iv) green-yellowish; lowsalinity, high irradiance, no enrichment. These conditions caused markeddifferences in the nutritional properties of the thalli. The light red colour showed thebest nutritional characteristics. Overall, G. longissima was not a suitable source ofomega 3 (maximum lipid content 1.6%; n-6/n-3 >10), but can be a source of Fe(0.34-0.53 mg g-1 DW) and K (161-103 mg g-1 DW) whereas its K:Na ratio can beenhanced under increasing salinity. The fast ecophysiological response, and itswide tolerance to environmental conditions, makes this species and excellent candidate for the development of short cultivation prococols.
PB Elsevier
SN 2211-9264
YR 2020
FD 2020
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/34462
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/34462
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 11-nov-2026