Ferreira, FranciscoFreitas, MartaCavaco, MárioMouga, Teresa2023-03-162023-03-162023Ferreira, F., Freitas, M.V., Cavaco, M., & Mouga, T. (2023, May 10-12). Towards sustainable seaweed production: Optimising the culture of Gracilaria gracilis. In In: P.S.D. Brito, et al. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Water Energy Food and Sustainability (ICoWEFS 2022). ICoWEFS 2022. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26849-6_38978-3-031-26849-6http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/8242Gracilaria gracilis is a well-known cultivated seaweed, sought after for its high agar content. For this purpose, it is one of the most cultivated species worldwide. Depending on the biotic and abiotic conditions to which it is exposed, the species also exhibits a very interesting nutritional profile, making it an excellent candidate for use as a food or food supplement. Thus, aiming to improve the productivity and biomass quality, G. gracilis was cultivated under different light conditions and nutrient media, to evaluate the impact of these parameters on the growth rate and the chemical composition of the biomass. Thus, the nutritional profile of the biomass was evaluated. Our results indicate that environmental parameters have a significant impact both on growth and quality of the biomass, affecting the amount of protein, ash, and carbohydrate. The cultivation methods, therefore, significantly affected the quality of the biomass produced. Thus, there is scope to optimise the cultivation of G. gracilis, in order to efficiently produce high quality biomass, enhancing the effective use of resources, particularly nutrients, while producing nutritionally balanced biomass for human consumption.engRhodophytaGracilarioidGrowth rateProtein contentCarbohydrate contentconference object10.1007/978-3-031-26849-6_38