Antioxidant effects of seaweeds and their active compounds on animal health and production – a review

Abstract

Natural antioxidants applied as feed additives can improve not only animals’ health and overall performance but also increase their resistance to environmental stress such as heat stress, bad housing conditions, diseases, etc. Marine organisms, for example seaweeds – red, brown, and green macroalgae contain a plethora of biologically active substances, including phenolic compounds, polysaccharides, pigments, vitamins, micro- and macroelements, and proteins known for their antioxidant activity, which can help in the maintenance of appropriate redox status in animals and show pleiotropic effects for enhancing good health, and productivity. The dysregulated production of free radicals is a marked characteristic of several clinical conditions, and antioxidant machinery plays a pivotal role in scavenging the excessive free radicals, thereby preventing and treating infections in animals. Supplementation of seaweeds to animal diet can boost antioxidant activity, immunity, and the gut environment. Dietary supplementation of seaweeds can also enhance meat quality due to the deposition of marine-derived antioxidant components in muscles. The use of natural antioxidants in the meat industry is a practical approach to minimize or prevent lipid oxidation. However, overconsumption of seaweeds, especially brown macroalgae, should be avoided because of their high iodine content. An important point to consider when including seaweeds in animal feed is their variable composition which depends on the species, habitat, location, harvest time, growing conditions such as nutrient concentration in water, light intensity, temperature, etc. This review highlights the beneficial applications of seaweeds and their extracted compounds, which have antioxidant properties as feed additives and impact animal health and production.

Effects of brown seaweed products on growth performance, plasma biochemistry, immune response, and antioxidant capacity of broiler chickens challenged with heat stress

“…Dietary seaweed ( Enteromorpha prolifera ) polysaccharide supplementation also improved broilers’ immunity and breast muscle growth ( Zhao et al, 2021 ). The phenolic compounds in brown seaweed can protect the body against oxidative damage that occurs in response to environmental or nutrient changes ( Li et al, 2017 ) and promote good health and productivity in animals ( Michalak et al, 2022 ). Previous studies showed that the dietary supplementation of marine algae polysaccharides extracted from seaweed ( E. prolifera ) improved bursa weight, the intestinal and liver antioxidant enzymes (total superoxide dismutase, glutathione, catalase and glutathione peroxidase) and reduced malondialdehyde ( MDA ) contents of broilers ( Liu et al, 2020b ; Guo et al, 2021 ).…”

Two Laminaria japonica Fermentation Broths Alleviate Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Response Caused by UVB Damage: Photoprotective and Reparative Effects

“…This study used fermentation technology to treat Laminaria japonica and confirmed that fermentation can improve the utilization of active substances and increase anti-inflammatory activity. We compared Laminaria japonica alcoholic extracts with anti-inflammatory activity and found that LJ-G and LJ-Y could exert better anti-inflammatory and skin barrier repair effects [ 16 ]. Compared with the alcoholic extraction process, the Laminaria japonica extracts obtained using the fermentation method have a high extraction rate, high safety and high eco-friendliness that traditional organic solvent extraction lacks.…”

“…Laminaria japonica , also known as brown seaweed, is common in East Asian countries such as China, Japan and South Korea as a traditional Chinese medicinal and edible algae [ 15 ]. It is rich in active substances, such as fucoidan, fucoxanthin, dietary fiber, and carotenoids, and possesses significant antioxidant [ 15 ], anti-inflammatory [ 16 ], anti-aging and antibacterial properties [ 17 ]. Studies have confirmed that Laminaria japonica specifically inhibits the nuclear translocation of the STAT1 gene through the MAPK pathway, reduces skin inflammation and the expression level of cellular inflammatory chemokines, and inhibits the loss of skin moisture in mice caused by dinitrochlorobenzene (NC/Nga) sensitization [ 18 ].…”

Fucoidan from Marine Macroalgae: Biological Actions and Applications in Regenerative Medicine, Drug Delivery Systems and Food Industry

“…The effect of fucoidan on animal health is through modulating the gut environment for the growth of beneficial gut microflora, stimulating the innate immune system and reducing the risk of diarrhea [ 132 ]. The commercially marketed algal products TascoTM from A. nodosum and Ocean FeedTM (a blend of brown, green and red macroalgae) are used as animal feed additives to improve the performance and immune response [ 132 , 133 ].…”