Comparative evaluation of physicochemical profile and bioactive properties of red edible seaweed Chondrus crispus subjected to different drying methods
Dehydration of the edible seaweed Chondrus crispus was performed by freeze-drying, conventional oven-drying
and emerging microwave hydrodiffusion and gravity (MHG). In this work, the drying kinetics and modelling,
estimating specific energy consumption and environmental impact of distinct processes were tested. Color and
microstructural features of the dried macroalgae were also evaluated, as well as their nutritive characterization,
chemical profile and bioactive potential (antioxidant and antimicrobial activities). Moreover, collected liquid
phases from both the defrosted and MHG treated samples were also characterized. All methodologies provided
solid phases with an adequate final moisture content. MHG significantly reduced the needed time, specific energy
consumption and environmental impact, providing C. crispus with intermediate color and histological structure
characteristics. Overall, this trend was also defined to tested chemical parameters and bioactivities. MHG provided
aqueous extracts with potential bioactive compounds from this red alga, increasing the efficiency of this
drying method.
L.L.H., M.D.T. and H.D. thank the financial support to the Ministry of
Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (RTI2018-096376-B-I00),
and to the Xunta de Galicia (Centro singular de investigaci´on de Galicia
accreditation 2019-2022) and the European Union (European Regional
Development Fund - ERDF) - (Ref. ED431G2019/06). L.L.H. was recipient
of mobility grant from the IACOBUS Program, for cultural, scientific
and pedagogical cooperation between Universities and Higher Education
Institutions in the Euroregion Galicia - North of Portugal (edition
2019-2020). M.D.T. acknowledges to the Ministry of Science, Innovation
and Universities of Spain for her postdoctoral grants (RYC2018-
024454-I). The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and
Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/
MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). L. Barros thanks the national
funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment
program-contract, and J. Pinela through the individual scientific
employment program-contract (CEECIND/01011/2018). C. Caleja
thanks her contract through the project Healthy- PETFOOD (POCI-01-
0247-FEDER-047073) and to the Project Mobilizador Norte-01-0247-
FEDER-024479: ValorNatural® for the contract of E. Pereira. This
work has been supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and
Technological Development of Republic of Serbia (451-03-68/2020-14/
200007).
