Abstract
Brown algae Fucus virsoides and Cystoseira barbata are an abundant source of sulfated polysaccharide fucoidan, which has shown a wide range of biological activities. These activities are significantly dependent on the fucoidan chemical composition, which is closely linked with the applied extraction technique and process parameters. In order to overcome the drawbacks of lengthy conventional extraction (CE), advanced extraction techniques, such as ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and non-thermal plasma (NTP), were applied. Furthermore, this study also investigated the efficiency of different solvents as well as UAE and NTP as 5 min pre-treatments prior to CE as a more effective course of cell wall breakage and, consequently, a higher polysaccharide yield (%PS). Apart from %PS, the effect of this procedure on the chemical composition and antioxidant capacity of the extracted polysaccharides was also monitored. When comparing the extraction solvent, the application of 0.1 M H2SO4, instead of H2O, resulted in a three-fold higher %PS, a higher sulfate group, and a lower fucose content. Application of CE resulted in higher %PS, uronic acids, and fucose content as well as oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and DPPH values, while the average molecular weight (Mw), sulfate group, and glucose content were lower during CE when compared to 30 min of UAE and NTP treatment. Application of UAE and NTP as 5 min pre-treatments decreased fucose content, while %PS and sulfate content were similar to values obtained when using CE.
Highlights
Seaweeds or marine macroalgae are an excellent source of nutrients and bioactive molecules with a broad range of applications in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and textile industries
Since physicochemical properties of algal PS are influenced by various parameters, and the aim of this research was to study the effect of different solvents (i.e., H2 O, 0.1 M hydrochloric acid (HCl), and 0.1 M H2 SO4 ) and extraction techniques (i.e., conventional extraction (CE), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), and non-thermal plasma (NTP)) for their extraction from brown algae F. virsoides and C. barbata and to compare them in terms of yield, chemical composition, and antioxidant capacity
It is necessary to emphasize that all extracts analyzed in this study were crude extracts; it was more accurate to report them as %PS rather than fucoidan yield
Summary
Seaweeds or marine macroalgae are an excellent source of nutrients and bioactive molecules with a broad range of applications in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and textile industries. Among the nutrients and bioactive molecules present in macroalgae (polysaccharides, proteins, peptides, amino acids, polyphenols, pigments, vitamins, minerals, etc.), polysaccharides (PS) are the most prominent with respect to possible commercial application. Fucus virsoides is an endemic species in the Adriatic Sea, and it is the only species of the Fucus genus to occur in the Adriatic Sea [2]. It has a perennial flat dark brown thallus that is dichotomously branched, flattened, and with a distinct midrib [3]. Cystoseira barbata is an endemic species of the Mediterranean Sea, growing mostly in the coastal area of the
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