Abstract
Marine macroalgae are well known to release a wide spectrum of volatile organic components, the release of which is affected by environmental factors. This paper aimed to identify the essential oil (EO) compounds of the brown algae Cystoseira compressa collected in the Adriatic Sea monthly, from May until August. EOs were isolated by hydrodistillation using a Clavenger-type apparatus and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC–MS). One hundred four compounds were identified in the volatile fraction of C. compressa, accounting for 84.37–89.43% of the total oil. Samples from May, June, and July were characterized by a high share of fatty acids (56, 69, and 34% respectively) with palmitic acid being the dominant one, while in the August sample, a high content of alcohols (mainly phytol and oleyl alcohol) was found. Changes in the other minor components, which could be important for the overall aroma and biological activities of the algal samples, have also been noted during the vegetation periods. The results of this paper contribute to studies of algal EOs and present the first report on C. compressa EOs.
Highlights
More than 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with oceans and seas, so it is not surprising that marine ecosystems are extremely complex with tremendous biodiversity.Recently, there is a growing trend in the investigation of new, inexpensive, and valuable sources of biologically active compounds, and marine origin products, like algae, are one of the most interesting sources, due to their production of a great variety of unique secondary metabolites [1]
According to the results obtained, C. compressa could be considered as a source of novel chemical entities with great potential to be used as an ingredient in different industrial applications such as functional foods, pharmaceuticals, and/or cosmeceuticals
As new extraction methods have greatly developed in the last few years and have been widely used in the field of natural compounds due to their numerous benefits in comparison to conventional ones, this scientific research is still ongoing and opens a wide spectrum of possibilities for future research
Summary
There is a growing trend in the investigation of new, inexpensive, and valuable sources of biologically active compounds, and marine origin products, like algae, are one of the most interesting sources, due to their production of a great variety of unique secondary metabolites [1]. Many of them are of commercial importance in some parts of the world due to their nutritional, biological, and functional properties, only a small number of species are currently exploited for industrial food applications [2]. Studies on marine algae are usually focused on the isolation of structurally different bioactive compounds like polysaccharides (e.g., fucoidan, alginate, and laminarin), photosynthetic pigments (carotenoids, chlorophylls, and phycobilins), sterols, polyphenolics, etc. In comparison to the research on these non-volatile compounds, studies on volatiles of marine origin are still scarce
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