PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE MARINE ALGAE FROM THE ROMANIAN BLACK SEA COAST

Black Sea seaweed is an important marine resource that can bring many benefits. To use algae for various purposes, preliminary studies are required to know their composition. Preliminary studies are presented in this paper to identify bioactive compounds which hold therapeutic interest. Three species of algae were analysed: green algae represented by Ulva lactuca, brown algae represented by Cystoseira barbata and red algae represented by Ceramium rubrum. Seaweeds were harvested from four harvesting stations located along the Romanian Black Sea coast in two consecutive seasons (autumn 2018 and spring 2019). Following the analysis of the physico-chemical results, sulfate compounds, carbohydrates and total dietary fibers were obtained in appreciable quantities. Comparisons were made between the average values obtained in the two seasons. It is found that in the spring season the percentage values for sulfate and carbohydrates contained in all the algae tested are lower than those obtained in the autumn season, which is due to the influence of environmental conditions, but also of the stage of aquatic plant development. The phytochemical analysis performed in the preliminary studies allowed the identification of compounds with important actions for therapeutic purposes. Preliminary studies on seaweed confirm that permanent monitoring of seaweed compositions makes it possible to collect clean algae from their natural environment and use them for bioactive compounds with applications in the medical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic or nutritional industries.