Marine Bioactive Compounds

Maria Hayes is a natural products chemist based at the Teagasc Food Research Centre, in Dublin, Ireland. She is the current Marine Functional Foods Research Initiative scientific project manager and is involved in the harvesting of bioactive compounds from seaweeds, marine rest raw materials and microalgae. NutraMara is a €5 million project funded by the Marine Institute (MI), Ireland and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF), Ireland. 

1. Taxonomy of Marine Macroalgae Used as Sources of Bioactive Compounds.- 2. Extraction and Characterization of Bioactive Compounds with Health Benefits from Marine Resources: Macro- and Microalgae Cyanobacteria and Invertebrates.- 3. Marine Bioactive Peptides and Protein Hydrolysates: Generation, Isolation Procedures and Biological and Chemical Characterizations.- 4. Chitin, Chitosan and Their Derivatives from Marine Rest-Raw Materials: Potential Food and Pharmaceutical Applications.- 5. Industry Potential of Marine Bioactive Components: Downstream Processing and Vehicles for Efficient Delivery in situ.- 6. Extraction and Characterization of Bioactive Carbohydrates with Health Benefits from Marine Resources: Macro- and Microalgae, Cyanobacteria and Invertebrates.- 7. Medicinal Chemistry and Ligand Profiling for Evaluation of Promising Marine Bioactive Molecules.- 8. Marine-Derived Functional Foods: Claims and Current Legislation.