Antioxidant Activity of Solubilized Tetraselmis suecica and Chlorella ellipsoidea by Enzymatic Digests

Abstract

In this study, we focused on natural water-soluble antioxidants from Tetraselmis suecica (T. suecica) and Chlorella ellipsoidea (C. ellipsoidea). They were prepared by enzymatic digestion using five carbohydrases (Viscozyme, Celluclast, AMG, Termamyl and Ultraflo) and five proteases (Protamex, Alcalase, Flavourzyme, Neutrase, and Kojizyme), and the potential antioxidant activity of each was assessed. Most enzymatic digests from T. suecica had a higher radical scavenging activity than those from C. ellipsoidea. Among the enzymatic digests, Kojizyme digest from T. suecica exhibited the highest effect on DPPH radical scavenging. Viscozyme (30.2%) and Neutrase (34.6%) digests from T. suecica exhibited higher hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. Kojizyme digest from T. suecica (81.5%) had strong alkyl radical scavenging activity. Neutrase (61.9%) and Kojizyme (61.5%) digest from T. suecica possessed the highest effects on hydrogen peroxide scavenging. Among the tested samples, Neutrase (TN) and Kojizyme (TK) digests from T. suecica showed the highest antioxidant activity (DPPH, alkyl radical, hydrogen peroxide). Therefore, TN and TK digests were selected for use in the further experiments. Those digests showed enhanced cell viability against H2O2-induced oxidative damage, and relatively good hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity in an African green monkey kidney (Vero) cell line. These results suggested that an enzymatic digestion will be an effective way for the production of a potential water-soluble antioxidant from a microalgae, T. suecica.