Sea aster (Aster tripolium) is a halophyte plant that is confined in its distribution to salt marshes, estuaries and occasionally to inland salt works. The fleshy leaves have a sweet taste, but they are scarcely consumed. Sea aster could be used as crop plant for human consumption in a future. Moreover, this plant is a rich source of polyphenols with significant nutraceutical benefits to humans. In this work, leaves of sea aster collected at the northeast coast of Spain were characterized. The water, fiber and fat content were 92 1 and 0.2%. The lipid fraction was mainly composed of omega-3 fatty acids A relevant amount of iron was found. The amount of heavy metals was lower than 1 ppm. The amino acid profile showed abundance of glycine, aspartic and glutamic acid, and alanine Studies in Caco2 and HTP1 cell lines revealed the absence of cytotoxicity even at concentration of 7.5%.The polyphenolic extract obtained from stems and leaves showed relevant antioxidant activity. Moreover, the extract showed ability to produce inhibition of different enzymes with an important role in different human disorders: Angiotensin-Converting enzyme (ACE, implicated in the control of blood pressure), Dipeptidyl-Peptidase IV (DPP-IV, for maintenance of normal glucose homeostasis) and Prolyl Endopeptidase (PEP, involved in cognitive disorders). The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was used to measure the potency of the extract in inhibiting the enzyme activity. The obtained results were 0.73 mg/ml (ACE), 0.92 mg/ml (DPP-IV) and 1.29 mg/ml (PEP). The proximal composition suggest that sea aster has potential to be used for human consumption. In addition, its leaves and stems are a source of bioactive polyphenols with potential activity against various chronic diseases. Its use as nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical molecules should be explored for specific applications.

This work has been financed by the Spanish MINECO, AGL2014-52825-R and AGL2017-84161-C1-R7-and co‐funded with European Union ERDF funds (EU Regional Development Fund). Sánchez Faure benefits from a PhD student contract from the Spanish MINECO (BES-2015-074420)

Trabajo presentado a la 49th West European Fish Technologists Association (WEFTA) Conference celebrada en Tórshavn (Faroe Islands) del 15 al 17 de octubre de 2019.

Peer reviewed