Research Article

Sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) gut biomass as a co-product with antioxidant and antibacterial potential to supplement aquafeeds

¹ CIIMAR/CIMAR-LA – Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Novo Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos, s/n, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
² FCUP – Faculty of Science, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
³ ICBAS – Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge de Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
⁴ SPAROS Lda. − Área Empresarial de Marim, Lote C, 8700-221 Olhão, Portugal
⁵ LEPABE – Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
⁶ Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr Roberto Frias, P-4200-264 Porto, Portugal

^* Corresponding author: acatarinaguedes@gmail.com

Handling Editor: Pierre Boudry

Received: 21 April 2023
Accepted: 26 July 2023

Abstract

Sea urchin processing practices by the canning industry result in a large volume of waste due to a high fraction of inedible parts, in special the gut, that can still be a valuable source of bioactive compounds. Therefore, this work aimed to thoroughly characterise gut biomass from Paracentrotus lividus evaluating its bioactive potential. The gut biomass was evaluated in terms of bioactive capacity, and biochemical composition in both males and females. Although no statistical differences were found between sexes in any of these parameters, this study provided a proof of concept on the potential of sea urchin's gut, obtained as a co-product in the sea urchin industry, for feed supplementation. The gut biomass exhibited a high antioxidant capacity (IC₅₀ ≈ 0.5–1.0 mg_DW mL⁻¹ in four different assays) and bactericidal activity (IC₅₀ < 1.0 mg_DW mL⁻¹ against Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Edwardsiella tarda, and Tenacibaculum maritimum). The gut co-product can also be used as a source of phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and PUFAs, with contents of 4.6 ± 0.4, 2.4 ± 0.8, and 93.0 ± 3.1 mg g_DW⁻¹, respectively. Overall, the sea urchin's gut seems a valuable product with a remarkable potential for use in aquafeeds as a source of bioactive compounds.