title: Environmental solutions for the sustainable production of bioactive natural products from the marine sponge Crambe crambe.
abstract: Crambe crambe is a Mediterranean marine sponge known to produce original natural substances belonging to two families of guanidine alkaloids, namely crambescins and crambescidins, which exhibit cytotoxic and antiviral activities. These compounds are therefore considered as potential anticancer drugs. The present study focuses on the environmental assessment of a novel in vivo process for the production of pure crambescin and crambescidin using sponge specimens cultured in aquarium. The assessment was performed following the ISO 14040 standard and extended from the production of the different mass and energy flows to the system to the growth of the sponge in indoor aquarium and further periodic extraction and purification of the bioactive compounds. According to the results, the two stages that have a remarkable contribution to all impact categories are the purification of the bioactive molecules followed by the maintenance of the sponge culture in the aquarium. Among the involved activities, the production of the chemicals (particularly methanol) together with the electricity requirements (especially due to the aquarium lighting) are responsible for up to 90% of the impact in most of the assessed categories. However, the contributions of other stages to the environmental burdens, such as the collection of sponges, considerably depend on the assumptions made during the inventory stage. The simulation of alternative scenarios has led to propose improvement alternatives that may allow significant reductions ranging from 20% to 70%, mainly thanks to the reduction of electricity requirements as well as the partial reuse of methanol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Electronic address: paula.perez@usc.es.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pérez-López
authors.affiliation: Nice Institute of Chemistry, PCRE, UMR 7272 CNRS, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Faculté des Sciences, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ternon
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: González-García
authors.affiliation: Nice Institute of Chemistry, PCRE, UMR 7272 CNRS, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Faculté des Sciences, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France.
authors.forename: Grégory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Genta-Jouve
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Gumersindo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Feijoo
authors.affiliation: Nice Institute of Chemistry, PCRE, UMR 7272 CNRS, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Faculté des Sciences, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice, France.
authors.forename: Olivier P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Ma Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Moreira
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D001688:Biological Products / Q000032:analysis*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D047132:Crambe Sponge / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development*; D005398:Fisheries / Q000379:methods*; D006146:Guanidines / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D001688:Biological Products; D006146:Guanidines
keywords: Antitumor; Crambe crambe; Crambescidins; Crambescins; Life Cycle Assessment; Sponge cultivation