Distribution of Phlorotannins in the Brown Alga Ecklonia cava and Comparison of Pretreatments for Extraction

Abstract

The brown seaweed Ecklonia cava is known to be a rich source of phlorotannins that have diverse biological activities. Among the phlorotannins in E. cava, concentrations of dieckol and phlorofucofuroeckol-A, which were identified as major active components, were determined in different parts of the tissue. We compared the efficacy of different pretreatments for their extraction. A highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to determine phlorotannin concentrations showed good accuracy (92.64 and 94.02%, respectively), precision (3.92 and 3.94%, respectively), and linearity (r>0.996). Mature thalli contained 1.5-fold more dieckol (1.82 mg/g-dry tissue) than young thalli. In the tissues of E. cava, blade tissue contained more phlorotannins than the stipe or holdfast. Among differently dried thalli, approximately 90% or more dieckol and phlorofucofuroeckol-A were extracted from shadow-dried tissue as compared with lyophilized tissue. In sun-dried and oven-dried thalli, approximately 60% of the phlorotannins were extracted. Thalli washed with fresh water, boiled thalli, and steamed thalli showed reduced extraction of the compounds.

Antimicrobial activity of compounds isolated from algae

“…Paul (1992) suggested that Halimeda species of seaweed accumulate higher concentrations of defence chemicals in areas of new growth as compared to older parts. In a recent study by Chowdhury et al (2011), the distribution of phlorotannins in mature thalli of E. cava was found to be 1.5-fold higher than young thalli. The previous study also reported that amounts of phlorotannins were higher in the blade tissue of the same algae than the stipe or holdfast.…”

Methyl jasmonate enhances phlorotannin production in the brown seaweed Ecklonia cava

“…Crude phlorotannin was extracted from the dried E. cava powder according to the method of Chowdhury et al (2011). Briefly, the powder (0.25 g) was shaken with methanol (1 mL) for 2 h. Chloroform (2 mL) was added, and the mixture was shaken for an additional 5 min.…”

Dietary Intake and Accumulation of Phlorotannins in Abalone after Feeding the Phaeophyte Ecklonia stolonifera

“…Quantification of phlorotannins from E. stolonifera Phlorotannins were quantified from the seaweed powder according to Chowdhury et al [3]. Briefly, one gram of powder was suspended in 100 ml of boiling distilled water, and stirred for 5 min to extract water-soluble compounds.…”