Jellyfish: old Eastern food becomes the Western novel food

Jellyfish: old Eastern food becomes the Western novel food Antonella Leone 1,3 and Stefano Piraino2,3 1.CNR-ISPA Institute of Science of Food Production, Lecce, Italy 2.University of Salento, DiSTeBA, 73100 Lecce, Italy 3.CoNISMa-Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Italy Background Since the 1960s substantial increase of migration fluxes to Western Europe led to the consequent introduction of new ethnic foods, such as jellyfish from Southeast Asia. In addition, climatic and anthropogenic causes are shaping dramatic changes in marine biodiversity and food sources across world oceans, including the Mediterranean Sea, where every year an increasing number of jellyfish are recorded and washed up ashore. Among them, several species show biologic and nutritional features similar to the Asiatic edible species, can be equally cultured, and may be therefore regarded as good candidates as alternative food or feed sources, or for nutraceutical and bioactive compounds isolation and exploitation. Objectives This work is addressing the potential use of Mediterranean jellyfish as natural biological resources of interest for several biotechnological and production sectors . Materials and Methods We investigated three common species of the Mediterranean Sea: Aurelia sp., Cotylorhiza tuberculata and Rhizostoma pulmo, and their protein contents were qualitatively and quantitatively determined. Different jellyfish body parts were subjected to aqueous or hydroalcoholic extraction, followed by sequential protein enzymatic hydrolyses. The antioxidant capacity of proteinaceous and not proteinaceous extracts and hydrolyzed proteins was assessed by TEAC (Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity).assay. The potential of the gelatinous biomasses as fresh or 100 °C heated material was also evaluated. Finally, the antiproliferative activity of the hydroalcoholic extract of C. tuberculata was assayed in vitro on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Results More than 40% of the dry weight of jellyfish biomass jellyfish dry biomass is composed by collagen and other pepsin-digestible proteins. Hydroalcholic extracts and the protein-hydrolizated fractions from all the three jellyfish revealed appreciable antioxidant activity. The hydroalcoholic extract of C. tuberculata exhibited significant anti-proliferative activity on MCF-7 cells. Conclusions Mediterranean jellyfish biomasses represent a still unexplored source for human food and feeds; in addition, the abundance of collagen, peptides and other bioactive molecules may represent a valuable source of natural compounds of nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmacological interest.