{"title":"Chemical Composition, Bioactivities, and Applications of Spirulina (<i>Limnospira platensis</i>) in Food, Feed, and Medicine.","authors":"Maria P Spínola, Ana R Mendes, José A M Prates","doi":"10.3390/foods13223656","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spirulina (<i>Limnospira platensis</i>) is a microalga recognised for its rich nutritional composition and diverse bioactive compounds, making it a valuable functional food, feed, and therapeutic agent. This review examines spirulina's chemical composition, including its high levels of protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds, such as the phycocyanin pigment, polysaccharides, and carotenoids, in food, feed, and medicine. These compounds exhibit various biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antiviral, anticancer, antidiabetic and lipid-lowering effects. Spirulina's potential to mitigate oxidative stress, enhance immune function, and inhibit tumour growth positions it as a promising candidate for preventing chronic diseases. Additionally, spirulina is gaining interest in the animal feed sector as a promotor of growth performance, improving immune responses and increasing resistance to diseases in livestock, poultry, and aquaculture. Despite its well-documented health benefits, future research is needed to optimize production/cultivation methods, improve its bioavailability, and validate its efficacy (dose-effect relationship) and safety through clinical trials and large-scale human trials. This review underscores the potential of spirulina to address global health and nutrition challenges, supporting its continued application in food, feed, and medicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":12386,"journal":{"name":"Foods","volume":"13 22","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11593816/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Foods","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13223656","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Spirulina (Limnospira platensis) is a microalga recognised for its rich nutritional composition and diverse bioactive compounds, making it a valuable functional food, feed, and therapeutic agent. This review examines spirulina's chemical composition, including its high levels of protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds, such as the phycocyanin pigment, polysaccharides, and carotenoids, in food, feed, and medicine. These compounds exhibit various biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antiviral, anticancer, antidiabetic and lipid-lowering effects. Spirulina's potential to mitigate oxidative stress, enhance immune function, and inhibit tumour growth positions it as a promising candidate for preventing chronic diseases. Additionally, spirulina is gaining interest in the animal feed sector as a promotor of growth performance, improving immune responses and increasing resistance to diseases in livestock, poultry, and aquaculture. Despite its well-documented health benefits, future research is needed to optimize production/cultivation methods, improve its bioavailability, and validate its efficacy (dose-effect relationship) and safety through clinical trials and large-scale human trials. This review underscores the potential of spirulina to address global health and nutrition challenges, supporting its continued application in food, feed, and medicine.
期刊介绍：
Foods (ISSN 2304-8158) is an international, peer-reviewed scientific open access journal which provides an advanced forum for studies related to all aspects of food research. It publishes reviews, regular research papers and short communications. Our aim is to encourage scientists, researchers, and other food professionals to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible or share their knowledge with as much readers unlimitedly as possible. There is no restriction on the length of the papers. The full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. There are, in addition, unique features of this journal:
manuscripts regarding research proposals and research ideas will be particularly welcomed
electronic files or software regarding the full details of the calculation and experimental procedure, if unable to be published in a normal way, can be deposited as supplementary material
we also accept manuscripts communicating to a broader audience with regard to research projects financed with public funds
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