Please join us on December 12th starting at 14:00.
No need to register - just show up in EBI 021.

Sérgio Sousa is our guest speaker.

Human health is dictated by several factors, which are affected by a panoply of conditions and stimuli. Among the conditions that impact health is the nutritional balance of the diet, which may include beneficial or detrimental compounds. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are bioactive lipids that may have beneficial effects on human health, particularly the omega-3 fatty acids, which include eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This important PUFA can be obtained by consumption of fish, but is also present in some microalgae, such as Nannochloropsis oculata, which also comprises other potentially bioactive compounds. In order to maximize the EPA amount that may be obtained from a microalga culture, different strategies may be pursued, such as increasing the microalga’s biomass EPA content and/or the efficiency of its extraction process. Based on this rationale, this Biotalk will focus on the impact of different stress conditions applied to N. oculata culture, on its EPA content, but without hindering growth. Moreover, EPA is conventionally extracted with hazardous organic solvents. The use of less hazardous solvent mixtures and of alternative technologies, namely high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) and moderate electric fields (MEF), as adjuvants to increase the extraction efficiency of the solvent mixture will also be covered. These strategies may constitute solutions for the food and nutraceutical industries, allowing them to obtain EPA faster and with higher yields, concomitantly decreasing the process environmental impact and increasing economic viability.