abstract
Lipophilic compounds present in dichloromethane extracts of five brown macroalgae from the Portuguese coast were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Their dicarboxylic acids, long-chain aliphatic alcohols, and monoglyceride profile are reported for the first time. Additionally, other new compounds were also first reported: 24-methylene-cholesterol in Himanthalia elongata, Laminaria ochroleuca, and Undaria pinnatifida; desmosterol and brassicasterol in H. elongata, L. ochroleuca, Sargassum muticum, and U. pinnatifida; fucosterol and campesterol in S. muticum; and cholest-5-en-3-ol-(3 beta)-3-phenyl-2-propenoate in Cystoseira tamariscifolia. Brown macroalgae dichloromethane extracts are mainly composed of fatty acids (463.4-3089.0 mg kg(-1) of dry material) and sterols (75.5-442.7 mg kg(-1) of dry material). High amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids were found, with the omega-6/omega-3 ratios of all species lower than 3. Cystoseira tamariscifolia, H. elongata, and S. muticum showed to be also promising sources of fucosterol. These results seem to uphold the incorporation of these macroalgae in a more balanced diet, as well as their use in the nutraceutical industry, as long as they are coupled with sustainable management of these natural resources.
keywords
FUNCTIONAL FOOD INGREDIENTS; FATTY-ACIDS; CHEMICAL-COMPOSITION; MASS-SPECTROMETRY; EDIBLE SEAWEEDS; RICH SOURCE; PHYTOCHEMICALS; STEROLS; ALGAE; BIOSYNTHESIS
subject category
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology; Marine & Freshwater Biology
authors
Santos, SAO; Oliveira, CSD; Trindade, SS; Abreu, MH; Rocha, SSM; Silvestre, AJD
our authors
Armando Jorge Domingues Silvestre
Full professor
Cátia Oliveira
PhD Student
Sónia Andreia Oliveira Santos
Researcheracknowledgements
The authors wish to thank FCT-Portugal (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) and POPH/FSE for the postdoctoral grants to S. A. O. Santos (SFRH/BPD/84226/2012). This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007679 (FCT Ref. UID/CTM/50011/2013) and QOPNA Research Unit (FCT UID/QUI/00062/2013), financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when appropriate co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement.