Advances in extraction methods to recover added-value compounds from seaweeds: sustainability and functionality

Seaweeds are a renewable natural source of valuable macro and micronutrients that have attracted the attention of the scientists in the last years. Their medicinal properties were already recognized in the ancient traditional Chinese medicine, but only recently there has been a considerable increase in the study of these organisms in attempts to demonstrate their health benefits. The extraction process and conditions to be used for the obtention of value-added compounds from seaweeds depends mainly on the desired final product. Thermochemical conversion of seaweeds, using high temperatures and solvents (including water), to obtain high-value products with more potential applications continues to be an industrial practice, frequently with adverse impact on the environment and productsâ functionality. However more recently, alternative methods and approaches have been suggested, searching not only to improve the process performance, but also to be less harmful for the environment. A biorefinery approach display a valuable idea of solving economic and environmental drawbacks, enabling less residues production close to the much recommended zero waste system. The aim of this work is to report about the new developed methods of seaweeds extractions and the potential application of the components extracted.This work was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) un der the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. The work was also supported by the Euro pean Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant (MSCA-RISE; FODIAC; 778388). Gabriela Matos is recipient of a PhD fellowship supported by a doctoral advanced training (call NORTE-69-2015-15), funded by the European Social Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE-08-5369-FSE-000036). Sara Pereira and Zlatina Genisheva are supported by the project OH2O (POCI-01-0145-FEDER 029145) funded by FCT and Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) under the scope of Programa Operacional de Competividade e Internacionalização (POCI)-COMPETE 2020 and Portugal 2020.