Lipophilic Fraction of Cultivated Bifurcaria bifurcata R. Ross: Detailed Composition and In Vitro Prospection of Current Challenging Bioactive Properties

Abstract

Macroalgae have been seen as an alternative source of molecules with promising bioactivities to use in the prevention and treatment of current lifestyle diseases. In this vein, the lipophilic fraction of short-term (three weeks) cultivated Bifurcaria bifurcata was characterized in detail by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). B. bifurcata dichloromethane extract was composed mainly by diterpenes (1892.78 ± 133.97 mg kg−1 dry weight (DW)), followed by fatty acids, both saturated (550.35 ± 15.67 mg kg−1 DW) and unsaturated (397.06 ± 18.44 mg kg−1 DW). Considerable amounts of sterols, namely fucosterol (317.68 ± 26.11 mg kg−1 DW) were also found. In vitro tests demonstrated that the B. bifurcata lipophilic extract show antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities (against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria), using low extract concentrations (in the order of µg mL−1). Enhancement of antibiotic activity of drug families of major clinical importance was observed by the use of B. bifurcata extract. This enhancement of antibiotic activity depends on the microbial strain and on the antibiotic. This work represents the first detailed phytochemical study of the lipophilic extract of B. bifurcata and is, therefore, an important contribution for the valorization of B. bifurcata macroalgae, with promising applications in functional foods, nutraceutical, cosmetic and biomedical fields.

High pressure extraction of bioactive diterpenes from the macroalgae Bifurcaria bifurcata: an efficient and environmentally friendly approach

“…The extracts were analysed by GC-MS following previously described methodologies 5,28,29 on a GCMS-QP2010 Ultra (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan) equipment, equipped with a DB-1 J&W (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA, United States) capillary column (30 m  0.32 mm inner diameter, 0.25 mm lm thickness). The chromatographic conditions were as follows: initial temperature, 80 C for 5 min; temperature gradient, 52 C min À1 ; nal temperature 285 C for 8 min; injector temperature, 250 C; transfer-line temperature, 290 C; split ratio, 1 : 40.…”

“…The identication of compounds was carried out through the comparison of their mass spectra fragmentation prole with library (Wiley 275 and U.S National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST14)), their characteristic retention times obtained under the described experimental conditions 5 and by comparing their mass spectra fragmentation proles with published data 9,10,28 or by injection of standards.…”

“…[2][3][4] The chemical composition of this brown macroalga has gained particular attention, due to the abundance of a variety of acyclic diterpenes. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Compared to their cyclic counterparts, these linear diterpenes are relatively quite rare in nature, 2 yet quite interesting since a vast range of promising bioactivities have been recognized for them. 2,3,7,8,[13][14][15] Recently, Santos et al 5 demonstrated the antioxidant, anti-inammatory and antibacterial activities of B. bifurcata lipophilic extracts, mainly composed of linear diterpenes.…”

“…In addition, a promising synergism was observed when these extracts were used together with antibiotic families of major clinical importance. 5 In general, this species could be a promising source of bioactive molecules useful for pharmaceutical, biomedical or even cosmetic industries. 3,5 Nonetheless, the commonly used conventional extraction methodologies involve the use of large amounts of organic solvents, oen toxic to humans and harmful to environment, such as dichloromethane 5 or chloroform 16 which represents a major limitation to the industrial exploitation of B. bifurcata diterpenes rich extracts.…”

“…5 In general, this species could be a promising source of bioactive molecules useful for pharmaceutical, biomedical or even cosmetic industries. 3,5 Nonetheless, the commonly used conventional extraction methodologies involve the use of large amounts of organic solvents, oen toxic to humans and harmful to environment, such as dichloromethane 5 or chloroform 16 which represents a major limitation to the industrial exploitation of B. bifurcata diterpenes rich extracts. In addition, these extraction methods have demonstrated poor selectivity as at the same time require long operation times frequently at high temperatures, which can induce the degradation of thermolabile compounds.…”