A review of cyanobacterial odorous and bioactive metabolites: Impacts and management alternatives in aquaculture

Increased demand has pushed extensive aquaculture towards intensively operated production systems, commonly resulting in eutrophic conditions and cyanobacterial blooms. This review summarizes those cyanobacterial secondary metabolites that can cause undesirable tastes and odors (odorous metabolites) or are biochemically active (bioactive metabolites) in marine and freshwater, extensive and intensive aquaculture systems. For the scope of this paper, biochemically active metabolites include (I) toxins that can cause mortality in aquaculture organisms or have the potential to harm consumers via accumulation in the product (hepatotoxins, cytotoxins, neurotoxins, dermatoxins, and brine shrimp/molluskal toxins), (2) metabolites that may degrade the nutritional status of aquaculture species (inhibitors of proteases and grazer deterrents) or (3) metabolites that have the potential to negatively affect the general health of aquaculture species or aquaculture laborers (dermatoxins, irritant toxins, hepatotoxins, cytotoxins). Suggestions are made as to future management practices in intensive and extensive aquaculture and the potential exposure pathways to aquaculture species and human consumers are identified. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.