MEDITERRANEAN EDIBLE JELLYFISH AS NEW FUNCTIONAL FOOD

Known for its nutritional and medical value in Chinese pharmacopeia, jellyfish (JF) seem to have characteristics of healthy food. Some Mediterranean JF species (Cnidaria) can represent a low-cost raw material for innovative medical, nutraceutical or cosmeceutical products. JF are rich in protein, mainly collagen, and are recently designated as novel foods in Europe. GoJelly is a H2020 funded project addressing the potential exploitation of JF biomass and derived compounds for multiple purposes. The JF Rhizostoma pulmo, undergoes recurrent outbreaks in the Mediterranean coasts, with large biomass populations representing a nuisance or damage for marine and maritime activities. A preliminary overview of the antioxidant activity (AA) of R. pulmo proteinaceous compounds is provided here based on the extraction and characterization of both soluble and insoluble proteins, the latter digested by sequential enzymatic hydrolyses with pepsin and collagenases. All protein fractions showed significant AA, with low molecular weight (MW) proteins correlated with greater AA, in particular hydrolyzed JF collagen peptides (HJCp). No cytotoxic effect was detected on human keratinocytes (HEKa) in a range of protein concentration 0.05-20 µg/mL for all tested fractions except for soluble proteins higher than 30 kDa, likely containing the JF venom compounds. In addition, HJCp showed significantly higher AA and provided a greater protective effect against H2O2-induced oxidative stress in HEKa compared to bovine collagen peptides. JF may represent a potential socioeconomic opportunity as a source of natural bioactive compounds. Eventually, improvements in processing technology will promote the use of untapped marine biomasses in nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical fields, turning marine management problems into a more positive perspective.