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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Sustainable Food Processing
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1553250

Rapid prediction of Porphyra photosynthetic pigments based on colorimetric parameters

Provisionally accepted
Xiaochen Chen Xiaochen Chen 1Biyun Yang Biyun Yang 1*Xiping Du Xiping Du 2*Qingyan Li Qingyan Li 2*Zhipeng Li Zhipeng Li 2Yuanfan Yang Yuanfan Yang 2*Zedong JIANG Zedong JIANG 2Yanbing Zhu Yanbing Zhu 2Hui Ni Hui Ni 1,2Xiongping Miao Xiongping Miao 1*
  • 1 Xiamen Ocean Vocational College, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
  • 2 Jimei University, Xiamen, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Photosynthetic pigments such as phycobiliproteins and chlorophyll a are important quality indicators of seaweeds. In this study, multivariate nonlinear regression (MNLR) models were developed and validated for the rapid determination of photosynthetic pigments in Porphyra haitanensis based on colorimetric parameters (L*, a*, b*). The contents of phycoerythrin, phycocyanin, allophycocyanin and chlorophyll a in P. haitanensis were within 1.499-8.882 mg/g, 1.402-7.634 mg/g, 0.315-1.623 mg/g and 0.340-2.160 mg/g, respectively. The L*, a* and b* values were within 13.47-32.97, -1.88-2.74 and 0.23-4.61, respectively. This study indicated that the pigment contents of P. haitanensis, especially phycoerythrin and phycocyanin, could be effectively predicted based on color parameters with R 2 of 0.901 and 0.701, respectively. The MNLR model also showed that the relative errors of phycoerythrin and phycocyanin content prediction were less than 10% and 20%, respectively. However, the prediction of allophycocyanin and chlorophyll a proved to be more challenging and the model showed limited predictive power. This discovery may make it easier to employ non-destructive techniques to evaluate the phycoerythrin and phycocyanin content of P. haitanensis and other seaweeds, which is important for the expanding Porphyra industry as it may enable a rapid assessment of Porphyra quality. This finding demonstrates the potential of visual analysis for quality assessment of Porphyra, as well as the convenience and nondestructive nature of the method. Future research should focus on improving the model and developing accurate and rapid quality control methods for the industrialization and scientific application of Porphyra.

    Keywords: Porphyra haitanensis, Phycobiliproteins, chlorophyll a, Colorimetric parameters, Multiple non-linear regression, Model

    Received: 31 Dec 2024; Accepted: 31 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Yang, Du, Li, Li, Yang, JIANG, Zhu, Ni and Miao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Biyun Yang, Xiamen Ocean Vocational College, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
    Xiping Du, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
    Qingyan Li, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
    Yuanfan Yang, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
    Xiongping Miao, Xiamen Ocean Vocational College, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.