Characteristic Volatile Composition of Seven Seaweeds from the Yellow Sea of China.

Pengrui Wang,Hongbing Liu,Lujing Chen,Jiapeng Chen,Li Shi

doi:10.3390/md19040192

Abstract

Plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) represent a relatively wide class of secondary metabolites. The VOC profiles of seven seaweeds (Grateloupia filicina, Polysiphonia senticulosa, Callithamnion corymbosum, Sargassum thunbergii, Dictyota dichotoma, Enteromorpha prolifera and Ulva lactuca) from the Yellow Sea of China were investigated using multifiber headspace solid phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC–MS), among them, the VOCs of three red algae Grateloupia filicina, Polysiphonia senticulosa, and Callithamnion corymbosum were first reported. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to disclose characteristic categories and molecules of VOCs and network pharmacology was performed to predict potential biomedical utilization of candidate seaweeds. Aldehyde was found to be the most abundant VOC category in the present study and (E)-β-ionone was the only compound found to exist in all seven seaweeds. The chemical diversity of aldehydes in E. prolifera suggest its potential application in chemotaxonomy and hinted that divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) fiber is more suitable for aldehyde extraction. VOCs in D. dichotoma were characterized as sesquiterpenes and diterpenes and the most relevant pharmacological pathway was the neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction pathway, which suggests that D. dichotoma may have certain preventive and therapeutic values in cancer, especially in lung cancer, in addition to neuropsychiatric diseases.

Highlights

Plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are produced by a range of physiological processes in many different plant tissues and typically occur as a complex mixture of lipophilic compounds with extremely diverse structures [1]
Algae are the main emitter of VOCs and the extraction of VOCs using headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) technology has been reported from brown algae [6], red algae [7] and green algae [8]
VOC compositions were investigated in seven algae using headspace solid phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Summary

Introduction

Plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are produced by a range of physiological processes in many different plant tissues and typically occur as a complex mixture of lipophilic compounds with extremely diverse structures [1]. Their low molecular weight and high vapor pressure under ambient conditions allow them to freely exit through cellular membranes and reach the surrounding environment [2]. Plant VOCs have been reported in different geographical conditions ranging from Mediterranean environments [3] and tropical rainforests [4] to various extreme environments [5]. VOCs are released under biotic or abiotic stresses and have great significance for plant survival and reproduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion