Successful research on lipids from Vietnamese marine organisms leads to creation of health protection products

Prof. Dr. Pham Quoc Long exchanges with his colleague

Lipid research

Lipids are one of the most important groups of organic compounds for living organisms and are found in all marine organisms, from molluscs, echinoderms, sponges, corals, seaweeds to other marine organisms, microorganisms and bacteria. Lipids form the structural basis of cell membranes, are used by marine organisms as energy stores, and thus serve as important ecological and biochemical indicators. Compared to terrestrial organisms, the lipid composition of marine organisms is relatively complex. With the development of modern analytical tools such as thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry GC-MS, high performance liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry LCMS-IT-TOF, the details about the composition of lipid classes and fatty acid composition of total lipids and the structure of "molecular forms" of phospholipids in marine and terrestrial organisms in general are becoming increasingly clear.

Since 2000, the term “lipidome” has emerged to describe the complete lipid structure of an organism, and “lipidomic” studies examine the structure, function, interactions, and distribution of lipids. lipid molecules in living organisms. Since then, upgrades to new equipment and new methods have allowed qualitative research, accurate quantification of lipid molecular types and determination of double bonds in fatty acid chains. Thanks to that, scientists have a large amount of important data to solve a series of problems in typical marine biology research such as determining the lipid biosynthetic pathway, analyzing lipid chemistry, determining the effects of biotic and abiotic factors, investigation of reproductive cycles, food chains and variations in their composition and content according to environmental conditions. However, there are still not many scientists studying the molecular structure of lipids from marine species, so special attention needs to be paid to this research direction in the current period.

Research and master technology

From 2015 to present, Prof. Dr. Pham Quoc Long and his colleagues have pursued research in the field of composition and content of lipid active ingredients from Vietnamese marine organisms with many successes in both basic and application-oriented research. In particular, scientists surveyed and collected marine biological samples for basic research and built a database on lipids from Vietnamese marine organisms. From the research results, dozens of scientific publications have been published in prestigious international journals under the SCIE list and national journals, patents and utility solutions are protected as well as training many masters and doctorates in the fields of Chemistry of Natural Compounds and Chemical Engineering.

Prof. Dr. Pham Quoc Long shared that after many years of diligent research, the applied research direction to create products from Vietnam's potential marine biological raw materials has achieved many significant successes. The group has built processing processes and mastered technologies to create valuable product chains such as functional foods and health protection foods from potential marine raw materials such as molluscs and echinoderms seahorses, contributing to community health care. Among them, we must mention the success in building an enzymatic hydrolysis technology process combined with the use of membrane filtration - creating hydrolyzed protein powder products, small molecules ~ 100KDa, researching the preparation of functional foods VEDA K+ with The effect of increasing resistance and restoring health from research in phase 1, component 5 on: "Research on the composition and content of active ingredients lipids, fatty acids and Oxilipin of corals and some sea creatures in the East Northern Vietnam” (code: VAST.TĐ.DBA.05/13-15).

Functional food product VEDA K+ licensed by the Department of Food Safety, Ministry of Health February 25, 2015

After that success, the research team continued to carry out phase 2, component 5 on: "Research on the composition, lipid content, fatty acids and their derivatives from some marine organisms in the North Central to Central waters." Central Vietnam" (code: VAST.TĐ.DLB.05/16-18). In this study, scientists have mastered the process of creating sea urchin egg capsules to help protect health from black sea urchin eggs (Diadema setosum) in the waters of Phu Yen - Khanh Hoa.

Health protection food licensed by the Department of Food Safety, Ministry of Health July 9, 2018

Following phase 2, the research team continued to propose and was approved by the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology to carry out phase 3: "Research on the composition, lipid content, fatty acids and derivatives of some marine organisms in the South Central region (Khanh Hoa - Binh Thuan waters)" (code: TĐDLB0.04/20-22). In particular, scientists have collected and studied 125 samples of marine life including 34 samples of coral, 21 samples of molluscs, 19 samples of seaweed, 32 samples of echinoderms, 19 samples of sponges and successfully built a set of samples. Database on lipids of 125 marine animal samples in the South Central Coast (Khanh Hoa - Binh Thuan). A technological process for hydrolyzing black seahorse has been developed using the method of using ultrasound combined with enzymes to create hydrolyzed seahorse powder containing all the active ingredients of seahorse. Based on the hydrolyzed seahorse powder preparation, researchers have successfully prepared and produced the product Seahorse Dan to help enhance and protect health and is waiting for a marketing license from the Department of Food Safety - Ministry of Health.

Functional food product Seahorse woven from seahorse ingredients

With successes in phases 1, 2, and 3 of the project, scientists want to continue implementing phase 4 research in the Southern region (Vung Tau to Ca Mau waters) to complete the lipid database. marine life in Vietnamese oceans.

Translated by Quoc Khanh
Link to Vietnamese version