Phenolic Content of Brown Algae (Pheophyceae) Species: Extraction, Identification, and Quantification.

Ivana Generalić Mekinić,Imen Hamed,Zvjezdana Popović Perković,Vida Šimat,Martina Čagalj,Danijela Skroza

doi:10.3390/biom9060244

Abstract

Over the last few decades, isolations and chemical characterizations of secondary metabolites with proved biological activities have been of interest for numerous research groups across the world. Phenolics, as one of the largest and most widely distributed group of phytochemicals, have gained special attention due to their pharmacological activity and array of health-promoting benefits. Reports on phenolic potentials of marine algae, especially brown algae (Pheophyceae) that are characterized by the presence of phlorotannins, are still scarce. The aim of this review paper is to provide an overview of current knowledge about phenolic potential of different brown algae species (74 species from 7 different orders). Studies on brown algae phenolics usually involve few species, thus the focus of this review is to provide information about the phenolic potential of reported algae species and to get an insight into some issues related to the applied extraction procedures and determination/quantification methods to facilitate the comparison of results from different studies. The information provided through this review should be useful for the design and interpretation of studies investigating the brown algae as a source of valuable phytochemicals.

Highlights

In the last decade the marine ecosystem has attracted researchers’ attention as many organisms possess or produce compounds with high biological activity
Studies on brown algae phenolics usually involve few species, the focus of this review is to provide information about the phenolic potential of reported algae species and to get an insight into some issues related to the applied extraction procedures and determination/quantification methods to facilitate the comparison of results from different studies
Macroalgae are frequently exposed to the adverse environmental conditons and the in vivo damaging effects on them are not visible, what implies to their ability to generate various metabolites that protect them from external factors [9,10,11,12,13,14]

Summary

Introduction

In the last decade the marine ecosystem has attracted researchers’ attention as many organisms possess or produce compounds with high biological activity. Only three orders, namely Laminariales, Fucales and Dictyotales, and among them species of Laminaria, Ecklonia, Undaria, Himanthalia, and Dictyota, have been extensively investigated for their phytochemical composition Numerous factors such as species, season, age, geographical location, and environmental conditions influence the differences in the algae phytochemical profile and content. All studies on brown algae report important levels of phenolics, characterized by extremely high biological activity, and comparatively, a higher content and more active antioxidants than green and red algae [2,19,21] This manuscript reviews and compares published literature from 2000 dealing with the extraction of phenolic compounds from brown macroalgae and for that purpose electronic databases (Scopus and ScienceDirect) were searched (by the keywords). The focus of the paper was to get an insight into phenolic content of various brown algae (Pheophyceae) species from different orders and geographical origins as well as examine the impact of experimental conditions, such as type of solvent, solid-to-solvent ratio, temperature and time of extraction, and application of some novel extraction techniques on their phenolic profile

Brown Algae Phenolics

Extraction

Quantification and Identification

Findings

Conclusion