José Antonio Vázquez

• PhD in Chemistry (Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology)
• Tenured Scientist at Marine Research Institue (IIM), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Aquafeed production is a fast-growing industry, seeking novel, cost-efficient raw materials to diversify traditional ingredients like fish meal and oil. Insects, particularly BSF larvae, convert by-products and waste into value-added biomass. In this study, by-products and co-products from two major fish-transforming industries in the Iberian Penin...

The global tuna canning industry generates substantial volumes of by-products, comprising 50% to 70% of the total processed material. Traditionally, these by-products have been utilized in low-value products such as fish oils and fishmeal. However, there is significant potential to extract high-value compounds from these by-products, such as calciu...

During adaptive laboratory evolution experiments, any unexpected interruption in data monitoring or control could lead to the loss of valuable experimental data and compromise the integrity of the entire experiment. Most homemade mini-bioreactors are built employing microcontrollers such as Arduino. Although affordable, these platforms lack the rob...

Antimicrobial tolerance is a significant concern in the food industry, as it poses risks to food safety and public health. To overcome this challenge, synergistic combinations of antimicrobials have emerged as a potential solution. In this study, the combinations of two essential oil constituents (EOCs), namely carvacrol (CAR) and eugenol (EUG), wi...

Hydrolyzed collagen, glycogen, and hyaluronic acid, obtained through the biotechnological valorization of underutilized marine bioresources, fulfill cosmetic industry requirements for sustainable products produced under circular economy principles. Hydrolyzed collagen was obtained by hydrolyzing blue shark collagen with papain and ultrafiltration....

Food preservatives exhibit a weak antimicrobial effect that is difficult to describe mathematically. Preservatives are commonly added below the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration to avoid organoleptic rejection and may exhibit very different antimicrobial effects. In most cases, they inhibit bacteria growth in the first hours, reduce the stationary...

Chemical effluents generated by the isolation of fish gelatin and collagen hydrolysates produced from the enzyme proteolysis of skin wastes are protein-rich substrates that could be used as nutrients in bacterial bioprocessing. In this study, the suitability of such nutrients in supporting the growth of a marine probiotic bacterium, Phaeobacter sp....

Glucomannan, one of the viscous polysaccharides, has been applied for various purposes in food industries. However, its high viscosity limits glucomannan in some applications e.g., as an injectable material and encapsulant in the spray drying method. Hence, glucomannan modification is needed to fulfill specific characteristics in such applications....

Abstract: The second-line antileishmanial compound pentamidine is administered intramuscularly or, preferably, by intravenous infusion, with its use limited by severe adverse effects, including diabetes, severe hypoglycemia, myocarditis and renal toxicity. We sought to test the potential of phospholipid vesicles to improve the patient compliance an...

Abrupt changes in environmental conditions in estuaries and coastal waters have direct (physiological) and indirect (through changes in water column stability) effects on planktonic microalgae. Understanding and quantifying these effects is important to improve harmful algal bloom predictive models. Dinophysis spp. ( D. acuminata , D. acuta and D....

Marine biofouling is a natural process often associated with biofilm formation on submerged surfaces, creating a massive economic and ecological burden. Although several antifouling paints have been used to prevent biofouling, growing ecological concerns emphasize the need to develop new and environmentally friendly antifouling approaches such as b...

Gelatin is a popular biopolymer for biomedical applications due to its harmless impact with a negligible inflammatory response in the host organism. Gelatin interacts with soluble molecules in aqueous media as ionic counterparts such as ionic liquids (ILs) to be used as cosolvents to generate the so-called Ionogels. The perfluorinated IL (FIL), 1-e...

We report on the synthesis of hyaluronan (HA) brush-like copolymers and their application as antagonists of tumorigenic CD44-HA interactions. HA (4.8 kDa, ca. 24 saccharides) was grafted on 2-hydrohyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) by end-on oxime ligation. The obtained copolymers were compared with low and high molecular weight HA in terms of hydrolysis...

Optosensing chitosan-based membranes have been applied for the detection of heavy metals, especially in drinking water. The novelty of this study is based on the use of sulphated polysaccharides, in such optosensing membranes, aiming at an improved analytical performance. The sulphated polysaccharides, such as ulvan, fucoidan and chondroitin sulfat...

Viscosity of glucomannan (GM) needs to be modified to support its application for spray drying encapsulation. The purpose of this study was to investigate degradation of GM using cellulase that fulfills viscosity in a spray-dryer specification. This hydrolyzed glucomannan (HGM) was subsequently spray-dried for encapsulating iron. Lower initial GM c...

A series of bionanocomposites composed of shark gelatin hydrogels and PLA nanoparticles featuring different nanostructures were designed to generate multifunctional drug delivery systems with tailored release rates required for personalized treatment approaches. The global conception of the systems was considered from the desired customization of t...

The replacement of fish meal and fish oil by insect-based ingredients in the formulation of marine aquafeeds can be an important step towards sustainability. To pursue this goal, the modulation of the lipid profile of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) has received great attention. While its nutritional profile can shift with diet, the ab...

In an attempt to produce a dry functional ingredient from marine origin, salt-soluble fish muscle protein (MP), κ-carrageenan (C) and a fish protein hydrolysate (H) were used as wall material for fish oil (FO) microencapsulation, which was performed comparing two drying methods (spray-drying and heat-drying). Dry powders were initially obtained fro...

The skin of yellowfin tuna is one of the fishery industry solid residues with the greatest potential to add extra value to its circular economy that remains yet unexploited. Particularly, the high collagen content of fish skin allows generating gelatin by hydrolysis, which is ideal for forming hydrogels due to its biocompatibility and gelling capab...

Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) are standard indexes for determining disinfection effectiveness. Nevertheless, they are static values disregarding the kinetics at sub-MIC concentrations where adaptation, growth, stationary, and death phases can be observed. The understanding of these dynamic mecha...

The canning industry plays a crucial role in the sector of marine foods, but produces several organic wastes and effluents with reduced economic value that must be upgraded to comply with the circular bioeconomy principles. Initially, we have searched the best experimental conditions for the hydrolysis of upper and lower halves from yellowfin tuna...

In modern aquaculture systems, feed is the main source of the waste being produced, including expired aquafeeds. There is a link between the expiration date of aquafeeds enriched with fish oil for marine fish and the observation of several physical and microbiological changes. Among these, lipid oxidation is worth highlighting, as this process is r...

The host immunologic response to a specific material is a critical aspect when considering it for clinical implementation. Collagen and gelatin extracted from marine sources have been proposed as biomaterials for tissue engineering applications, but there is a lack of information in the literature about their immunogenicity. In this work, we evalua...

Nanocomposites comprising bio-based polymers have become relevant in fields such as food packaging and biomedical applications. Polylactide (PLA) is a chiral and aliphatic polyester that can attain a wide range of tacticities which enables to tailor of the final material properties. However, PLA exhibits hydrophobic characteristics requiring the en...

Styela clava is an edible sea squirt farmed in Korea that has gradually invaded other seas, negatively impacting the ecology and economy of coastal areas. Extracts from S. clava have shown wide bioactivities, and ascidians have the unique capability among animals of biosynthesizing cellulose. Thus, S. clava is a relevant candidate for valorization....

Creating flexible, high-strength hydrogels from harmless, low-cost natural polymers is an area of intense research today due to their potential applications in the biomedical field, which demands materials with ambivalent physicochemical features. In particular, great efforts were devoted to the preparation of sustainable biohydrogels, composed of...

The expansion of fish filleting, driven by the increasing demand for convenience food, concomitantly generates a rising amount of skinning by-products. Current trends point to a growing share of aquaculture in fish production, so we have chosen three established aquaculture species to study the properties of gelatin extracted from their skin: rainb...

The extract of Cardiospermum halicacabum L. (C. halicacabum) obtained from flower, leaf and vine was loaded into modified phospholipid vesicles aiming at obtaining sprayable, biocompatible and effective nasal spray formulations for the treatment of nasopharyngeal diseases. Penetration enhancer-containing vesicles (PEVs) and hyalurosomes were formul...

The use of alternative sources for gelatin extraction is in demand in today’s industries. Fish skins are an economical and sustainable source option. However, there is a lack of information about the preservation state of skins (fresh, frozen, salted, etc.) and how that affects the gelatin yield and properties, and therefore, compromise the final p...

Rising trends in fish filleting are increasing the amount of processing by-products, such as skins of turbot, a flatfish of high commercial value. In line with circular economy principles, we propose the valorization of turbot skins through a two-step process: initial gelatin extraction described for the first time in turbot, followed by hydrolysis...

Salmon processing commonly involves the skinning of fish, generating by-products that need to be handled. Such skin residues may represent valuable raw materials from a valorization perspective, mainly due to their collagen content. With this approach, we propose in the present work the extraction of gelatin from farmed salmon and further valorizat...

A set of mathematical models (Matlab code) to describe and analyse the effect of sub-MIC concentrations of antimicrobials in bacterial growth: a classical logistic model with disinfectant inhibition following Weibull functions and a dynamic model based on mechanisms of adaptation, growth, inhibition and death. Both models, as well as their generate...

Implantable medical devices (IMDs) are susceptible to microbial adhesion and biofilm formation, which lead to several clinical complications, including the occurrence of implant-associated infections. Polylactic acid (PLA) and its composites are currently used for the construction of IMDs. In addition, chitosan (CS) is a natural polymer that has be...

The growing requirement for sustainable processes has boosted the development of biodegradable plastic-based materials incorporating bioactive compounds obtained from waste, adding value to these products. Chitosan (Ch) is a biopolymer that can be obtained by deacetylation of chitin (found abundantly in waste from the fishery industry) and has valu...

Fish discards and by-products can be transformed into high value-added products such as fish protein hydrolysates (FPH) containing bioactive peptides. Protein hydrolysates were prepared from different parts (whole fish, skin and head) of several discarded species of the North-West Spain fishing fleet using Alcalase. All hydrolysates had moisture an...

The fishing industry is often targeted as a producer of organic streams with low economic value. Biotechnological approaches can play a crucial role in transforming and adding value to these streams for their further use and upcycle. In this study, Atlantic codfish (Gadus morhua) frames, were subjected to Alcalase hydrolysis, whose optimal conditio...

Numerous therapeutic strategies have been developed for osteoarthritis (OA) management, including intra-articular (IA) injections. The ideal IA formulation should control cartilage degradation and restore synovial fluid viscosity. To this end, we propose to combine thermo-sensitive polymers (poloxamers) with hyaluronic acid (HA) to develop suitable...

Every year, millions of tons of fish waste are generated from fishing activities, and a similar amount is discarded and returned to the sea as unwanted catches. This material can be used as a biological source for many potential new added-value products, such asobtaining hyaluronic acid from fish eyeballs or extracting collagen from fish skin, but...

Controlling chondroitin sulfates (CSs) biological functions to exploit their interesting potential biomedical applications requires a comprehensive understanding of how the specific sulfate distribution along the polysaccharide backbone can impact in their biological activities, a still challenging issue. To this aim, herein, we have applied an “ho...

The industrial filleting of blue shark (Prionace glauca) led to the generation of a large number of central skeletons of low interest to fishmeal plants handling such wastes. In this context, the present study describes the optimization of the hydrolysis process (pH 8.35, T 58 °C, 1% (v/w) of alcalase and t = 4 h) to produce chondroitin sulfate (CS...

Valorization of seabass and seabream by-products is becoming increasingly relevant, as marketing of these species moves from selling whole fish to filleting for convenience products. With this aim, we optimized for the first time the production of fish protein hydrolysates (FPH) by enzymatic hydrolysis from filleting by-products of these commercial...

The aim of this work was the recovery of protein substrates from monkfish waste (heads and viscera) generated in the on-board processing of this species. Initially, the effect of pH, temperature, and protease concentration was studied on mixtures of a 1:1 ratio (w/v) of monkfish heads/water. The optimal conditions of proteolytic digestion were esta...

In the current work, we study the capacity of 30 peptones obtained by enzyme proteolysis of ten discarded fish species (hake, megrim, red scorpionfish, pouting, mackerel, gurnard, blue whiting, Atlantic horse mackerel, grenadier, and boarfish) to support the growth and metabolite production of four lactic acid bacteria (LAB) of probiotic and techno...

Based on a biotechnological strategy, in the present work several peptones are produced from the Alcalase hydrolysis (0.1–0.2% v/w, 56–64 °C, pH 8.27–8.98, 3 h) and thermal processing (105 °C, 60 min) of wastes generated from the industrial processing of turbot, salmon, trout, seabream and seabass. These peptones were included (in the range of 2.6–...

Pressurized liquid extraction was performed to obtain a phytocomplex from Lippia citriodora leaves rich in bioactive compounds. The extract was loaded in phospholipid vesicles to improve its protective effect against oxidative stress in the intestine. The phytochemicals were identified and quantified by HPLC-ESI-TOF-MS. The extract was incorporated...

The industrial production of marine bacteria with probiotic properties is limited by the excessive cost of the culture media adequate for their growth. The present work aimed to study the suitability of 30 marine media formulated with nitrogen sources (fish peptones) from different fish discards and seawater, for the growth of two marine probiotic...

Phytochemicals from Lippia citriodora leaves were extracted by applying an innovative technology based on the use of microwaves, which represents an alternative method to extract bioactive substances. The obtained extract was incorporated into phospholipid vesicles in order to promote the antioxidant effect of the bioactive molecules present in L....

In the present work, the potential of the Prionace glauca jaw as a source of both chondroitin sulfate and bioapatite is explored. The sandwich-type structure in cross section of the jaw based on alternate layers with prevalence in organic tissue or mineralized is shown and these bands respectively confirmed as CS or hydroxyapatite -enriched zones....

The valorization of wastes generated in the processing of farmed fish is currently an issue of extreme relevance for the industry, aiming to accomplish the objectives of circular bioeconomy. In the present report, turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) by-products were subjected to Alcalase hydrolysis under the optimal conditions initially defined by respon...

Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent rheumatic disease. During disease progression, differences have been described in the prevalence of chondroitin sulfate (CS) isomers. Marine derived-CS present a higher proportion of the 6S isomer, offering therapeutic potential. Accordingly, we evaluated the effect of exogenous supplementation of CS, derived fr...

A novel blue-emitting fluorescent alginate derivative has been successfully synthesised in a simple two-reaction steps procedure, using an aqueous conjugation strategy that involved carbodiimide coupling followed by an alkyne-azide “click” reaction. The modified alginate maintained the characteristic ability to form mechanically stable hydrogels by...

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a glycosaminoglycan crucial for homeostasis of tissues, and its role on cell signalling and regulation of tissue injury and repair largely depends on HA molecular weight. Therefore, HA application in a variety of fields requires HA of defined size. While a number of enzymatic, chemical and physical methods exist for HA depol...

In the present manuscript, various by-products (heads, trimmings, and frames) generated from salmonids (rainbow trout and salmon) processing were evaluated as substrates for the production of fish protein hydrolysates (FPHs), potentially adequate as protein ingredients of aquaculture feeds. Initially, enzymatic conditions of hydrolysis were optimiz...

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is a sulfated glycosaminoglycan with diverse biological activities, which are influenced by molecular weight (Mw) and sulfation pattern. In the present work, we take advantage of the characteristic high Mw of fish CS (51-70 kDa) to obtain lower Mw fragments with hyaluronidase and chondroitinase ABC. With this aim, we presen...

The new EU fishing policies (Landing Obligation) are aimed at preventing the elimination of fishing discards overboard. These new biomasses that have to be landed from 2019 force to stablish valorisation protocols since, in most cases, they cannot be used directly for human consumption. In this context, the aim of this work was to develop an integr...

In compliance with the new legal framework defined as the landing obligation (LO), established in Article 15 of the Common Fisheries Policy by the EU, all the individuals of species subject to the total allowable catches regulation must be kept on-board, landed, and quantified against their corresponding quota. In addition, specimens with a size be...

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is a glycosaminoglycan widely explored for cartilage regeneration. Its bioactivity is influenced by sulfation degree and pattern, and distinct sulfation in marine CS may open new therapeutic possibilities. In this context, we studied for the first time the isolation and characterisation of CS from Rabbit Fish (Chimaera mons...

The objective of this report was to investigate the isolation and recovery of different biocompounds and bioproducts from wastes (skins and heads) that were obtained from five species discarded by fishing fleets (megrim, hake, boarfish, grenadier, and Atlantic horse mackerel). Based on chemical treatments, enzymatic hydrolysis, and bacterial fermen...

Chondroitin sulphate (CS) as a major component of the extracellular matrix of numerous connective tissues is responsible for biomechanical properties such as resistance and elasticity. It occurs in different isomeric forms with different sites and degrees of sulfation. The characterization of crude CS and quantitative isomeric identification by hig...

In the present work, we have developed a set of sequential and complementary alternatives to valorise five fish discards in order to recover and produce fish mince, oils, gelatins, fish protein hydrolysates (FPHs) with antioxidant and antihypertensive properties and marine peptones. In this last case, microbial bioconversion of marine peptones was...

The international standards for top glucomannan flour require a minimum of 70% glucomannan. The glucomannan content of Amorphophallus oncophyllus flour was approximately 60%, with starch as the major impurity. Elimination of starch was expected to increase the purity of glucomannan. The purpose of this research was to study starch hydrolysis of the...

The small-spotted catshark is one of the most abundant elasmobranchs in the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Although its landings are devoted for human consumption, in general this species has low commercial value with high discard rates, reaching 100% in some European fisheries. The reduction of post-harvest losses (discards and by-products) by promo...

The European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has established a landing obligation (LO) and the need for proper management of bycatches without incentivising their capture. Food use is the priority option but only unwanted catches (UWC) above minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) can be used for direct human consumption. As a result, other option...

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is a glycosaminoglycan actively researched for pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and tissue engineering applications. CS extracted from marine animals displays different features from common terrestrial sources, resulting in distinct properties, such as anti-viral and anti-metastatic. Therefore, exploration of undescribed marin...

The progressive elimination of fish discards established by the European Union Council in 2013 has stimulated the valorization of flesh from discarded high-quality species with good protein functional properties but which frequently have excessive fish-bones, fat, strange flavours, soft texture, etc. The present study therefore focuses on valorizat...

The quantification of species in commercial products is limited by analytical shortcomings, as most of them provide semiquantitative results. An exception is real-time PCR, which can provide quantitative results using hybridization probes. In the present work, this technique has been applied to the absolute, absolute-relative and relative quantific...

The aim of this study was to present a sustainable valorisation approach of Loligo opalescens squid pen by-products by optimal production of chitin and chitosan biopolymers and recycling of the generated effluents. The integral recovery of squid pens started with the optimization of the deproteinization process to isolate chitin, including less haz...

Cereal debranning is a milling process in which bran layers are sequentially removed by controlled abrasion. Six rice fractions were produced with increasing debranning degrees: A (0–2.3% w/w), B (2.3–3.8% w/w), C (3.8–5% w/w), D (5–6.3% w/w), E (6.3–7.3% w/w) and F (7.3–100% w/w). Fermentation media were prepared from all fractions, and evaluated...

[This corrects the article on p. 2626 in vol. 8, PMID: 29354110.].

Mos breed is a Spanish authoctonus breed linked to raising and natural food, with a growing market niche in the restoration due to their meat is associated with high quality products. The effect of breed (Mos and Sasso X44) on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of breast and drumsticks was examined in young hens reared 20...

A realistic description of the variability in bacterial growth and division is critical to produce reliable predictions of safety risks along the food chain. Individual-based modeling of bacteria provides the theoretical framework to deal with this variability, but it requires information about the individual behavior of bacteria inside populations...

Fish skins constitute an important fraction of the enormous amount of wastes produced by the fish processing industry, part of which may be valorized through the extraction of gelatins. This research exploited the extraction and characterization of gelatins from the skin of three seawater fish species, namely yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), blu...

The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant efficacy of peanut skin extracts (PSE) to prevent the oxidative processes of soybean oil during storage and to compare the results with those obtained after using a positive control with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) under accelerated oxidation conditions (16 d at 60 °C). Progress in lipid oxi...

The toxin profile and hemolytic activity of a strain of Ostreopsis cf. ovata (UFBA013) isolated from Todos os Santos Bay (northeastern Brazil) were evaluated under different levels of N and P. Phylogenetic analyses based on ITS rDNA region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) placed UFBA013 within the Atlantic/Mediterranean/Pacific clade of O. cf. ovata. Growth experi...

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in marine animals are different to those of terrestrial organisms, mainly in terms of molecular weight and sulfation. The therapeutic properties of GAGs are related to their ability to interact with proteins, which is very much influenced by sulfation position and patterns. Since currently GAGs cannot be chemically synthes...

The present report illustrates the optimisation of the experimental conditions for the chemical and enzymatic production of chitin and chitosan from Illex argentinus pen by-products. Optima conditions for chitin isolation were established at 0.82 M NaOH/36.4 °C, 57.5 °C/pH = 9.29, 59.6 °C/pH = 9.30 and 49.6 °C/pH = 5.91 for chemical, alcalase, espe...

The waste generated from shrimp processing contains valuable materials such as protein, carotenoids, and chitin. The present study describes a process at pilot plant scale to recover chitin from the cephalothorax of Penaeus vannamei using mild conditions. The application of a sequential enzymatic–acid–alkaline treatment yields 30% chitin of compara...

This study investigates how both bioadhesive polymers (chitosan, hyaluronic acid and alginate) and permeability enhancers (ethylene glycol- bis(2-aminoethylether)- N, N, N', N'- tetraacetic acid (EGTA) and hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin) influence the permeability of the anti-glaucoma drug timolol maleate through ex vivo bovine corneas. Our results s...

During fish processing operations, such as skinning and filleting, the removal of collagen-containing materials can account for up to 30% of the total fish byproducts. Collagen is the main structural protein in skin, representing up to 70% of dry weight depending on the species, age and season. It has a wide range of applications including cosmetic...

Imprinting chondroitin sulfate (CS)/silica composites with Pb(II) and Cu(II) cations was explored with CS of bovine and different fish species origin. The process was based on the assumption that particular arrangements of the linear CS chains in aqueous solution, induced so as to accommodate cross complexation with the cations, would be embodied i...

The prebiotic ability of several rice bran fractions obtained by debranning (RBD) using human microbiota was studied in anaerobic batch cultures with agitation and pH-controlled. Fraction C (3.8–5% w/w pearling) from RBD increased the number of bifidobacteria and lactobacteria compared with the positive control, raftilose P95. RBD fermentation indu...

Agro-industrial by-products are being explored as alternative low-cost nutrients to produce hyaluronic acid (HA) by Streptococcus zooepidemicus. In this study, we formulated three culture media containing corn steep liquor (CSL) and sugarcane molasses (M), to produce microbial HA using batch bioreactor conditions (pH 6.7, 500 rpm and 1 vvm aeration...

Understanding cell-to-cell variability is fundamental to quantitatively assess the risk of food-borne outbreaks. The main challenge is to find a fast and reliable model that takes into account this variability and simultaneously addresses small and large populations. Individual-based modelling is the usual choice when heterogeneity has to be consid...