Oana Alina MARIN1*, Valentina COATU1, Elena – Daniela PANTEA1, Elena RISTEA1
Abstract. Green macroalgae of the genus Ulva are commonly found along the Romanian Black Sea coast, with Ulva rigida and Ulva intestinalis emerging as the quantitatively dominant species in the past years. This study investigates the biochemical composition and antioxidant activity of U. intestinalis and U. rigida collected from the Romanian Black Sea coast during summer 2024. Both species exhibited high moisture content (~80%), with U. intestinalis showing higher protein (10.8%) and glucid (9.09%) levels compared to U. rigida (7.61% and 3.46%, respectively). Total lipid content was low in both species. Ulvan extraction revealed significantly higher yields in U. rigida (up to 14.73%) than in U. intestinalis (1.75%). Catalase activity, used to assess antioxidant potential, showed no significant differences between species. These findings highlight the valorization potential of Ulva spp. as a sustainable marine resource.
Keywords: Romanian Black Sea coast, green macroalgae, Ulva spp., biochemical composition.
DOI 10.56082/annalsarscibio.2025.2.22
1National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa“, 300 Mamaia Blvd., 900581, Constanța, Romania
*Corresponding author e-mail: omarin@alpha.rmri.ro
PUBLISHED in Annals Academy of Romanian Scientists Series on Biological Sciences, Volume 14 no 2, 2025