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Metabolite Profiling of Macroalgae: Biosynthesis and Beneficial Biological Properties of Active Compounds

Publication . Carpena, María; Pereira, Cláudia S.G.P.; Silva, Aurora; Barciela, Paula; Jorge, Ana Olívia Serra; Perez-Vazquez, Ana; Pereira, Antia Gonzalez; Barreira, João C.M.; Oliveira, Maria Beatriz Prior Pinto; Prieto Lage, Miguel A.

Macroalgae are known as abundant sources of phytochemicals, which offer a plethora of beneficial biological properties. Besides being the most notable classes of compounds found in macroalgae, phlorotannins, bromophenols, and terpenoids comprise some of the most relevant for their biological properties. Phlorotannins, mainly prevalent in brown algae and structurally characterized as complex polyphenolic compounds derived from phloroglucinol units, possess robust antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and cytotoxic activities, modulated by factors such as the degree of polymerization and environmental conditions. Bromophenols, halogenated compounds found in algae and other marine organisms, exhibit significant antioxidant and antiviral properties. Their diverse structures and bromination patterns contribute to their potential as therapeutic and chemical defense agents. Pigments (chemically described as primary terpenoids) play a critical role in light absorption and energy transfer in macroalgae and are divided into three main groups: (i) carotenoids, which are primarily found in brown algae and provide photoprotective and antioxidant benefits; (ii) chlorophylls, known for facilitating the conversion of light into biological energy; and (iii) phycobilins, which are mostly found in red algae and play important roles in light absorption and energy transfer, besides providing remarkable health benefits. Finally, secondary terpenoids, which are particularly abundant in red algae (e.g., the Rhodomelaceae family) are central to cellular interactions and exhibit significant antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory properties. This study represents a detailed analysis of the biosynthesis, structural diversity, and biological activities of these macroalgae metabolites, emphasizing their potential biological properties.

2024Journal article

Open access

Contributions to accelerating a numerical simulation of free flow parallel to a porous plane

Publication . Schepke, Claudio; Spigolon, Roberta A.; Rufino, José; Cristaldo, Cesar F. Da C.; Pizzolato, Glener L.

Flow models over flat p orous surfaces have applications in natural processes, such as material, food, chemical processing, or mountain mudflow simulations. The development of simplified a nalytical or numerical models can predict characteristics such as velocity, pressure, deviation length, and even temperature of such flows for geophysical and engineering purposes. In this context, there is considerable interest in theoretical and experimental models. Mathematical models to represent such phenomena for fluid mechanics have continuously been developed and implemented. Given this, we propose a mathematical and simulation model to describe a free-flowing flow pa rallel toa porous material and its transition zone. The objective of the application is to analyze the influence o f t he p orous matrix on the flow u nder d ifferent m atrix p roperties. W e i mplement a Computational Fluid Dynamics scheme using the Finite Volume Method to simulate and calculate the numerical solutions for case studies. However, computational applications of this type demand high performance, requiring parallel execution techniques. Due to this, it is necessary to modify the sequential version of the code. So, we propose a methodology describing the steps required to adapt and improve the code. This approach decreases 5.3% the execution time of the sequential version of the code. Next, we adopt OpenMP for parallel versions and instantiate parallel code flows and executions on multi-core. We get a speedup of 10.4 by using 12 threads. The paper provides simulations that offer the correct understanding, modeling, and construction of abrupt transitions between free flow a nd porous media. The process presented here could expand to the simulations of other porous media problems. Furthermore, customized simulations require little processing time, thanks to parallel processing.

2025Conference paper

Restricted access