Nutraceutical characteristics of the brown seaweed carotenoid fucoxanthin

Abstract

Fucoxanthin (Fx), a major carotenoid found in brown seaweed, is known to show a unique and wide variety of biological activities. Upon absorption, Fx is metabolized to fucoxanthinol and amarouciaxanthin, and these metabolites mainly accumulate in visceral white adipose tissue (WAT). As seen in other carotenoids, Fx can quench singlet oxygen and scavenge a wide range of free radicals. The antioxidant activity is related to the neuroprotective, photoprotective, and hepatoprotective effects of Fx. Fx is also reported to show anti-cancer activity through the regulation of several biomolecules and signaling pathways that are involved in either cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, or metastasis suppression. Among the biological activities of Fx, anti-obesity is the most well-studied and most promising effect. This effect is primarily based on the upregulation of thermogenesis by uncoupling protein 1 expression and the increase in the metabolic rate induced by mitochondrial activation. In addition, Fx shows anti-diabetic effects by improving insulin resistance and promoting glucose utilization in skeletal muscle.

Total Lipids Content, Lipid Class and Fatty Acid Composition of Ten Species of Microalgae

“…It has a distinctive structure with an allenic bond, a 5, 6-monoepoxide, and nine conjugated double bonds. Fucoxanthin is known to show a unique and wide variety of biological activities, therefore, good sources of this marine carotenoid have been explored 31 . Although fucoxanthin can be synthesized chemically, extraction from brown seaweeds and microalgae is a more accessible, safe, and economic method 42 .…”

“…They include the most well-known β-carotene and lutein found in terrestrial plants together with a variety of specific carotenoids to only found in algae, cyanobacteria, and several species of yeast 30 . Among these carotenoids, fucoxanthin is known to reduce the risk of a surprisingly wide variety of dysfunctions and diseases, including metabolic syndrome, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, as well as reactive oxygen species-and inflammation-associated disorders 31 . Brown seaweeds are possible source of fucoxanthin, but the content is not high ranging up-to 0.7 mg g 1 dry weight 32 .…”

Fucoxanthin and Colorectal Cancer Prevention

“…They investigated the polymorphism status of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in the subjects [ 33 ]. UCP1, a mitochondrial membrane protein, plays a central role in the metabolic thermogenesis process for inhibiting excessive fat accumulation [ 167 ]. The UCP1 molecule is strongly expressed in brown adipose tissue (BAT), which promotes whole body energy expenditure, and its protein aberration leads to the development of obesity, although most fat is accumulated in the white adipose tissue (WAT), where UCP1 is absent.…”

Fucoxanthin, A Xanthophyll from Macro- and Microalgae: Extraction Techniques, Bioactivities and Their Potential Application in Nutra- and Cosmeceutical Industries

“…Fucoxanthin is a xanthophyll exhibiting several health benefits. This compound has remarkable biological properties for human health [109], such as anti-inflammatory activity [108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115], hepatoprotective effect [12,98,[116][117][118], cardioprotective activity [119][120][121], anticancer [26,116,119,[122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131], antidiabetic [75,[132][133][134], antiobesity [135][136][137][138][139], antioxidant [65,131,[140][141][142][143][144][145][146], skin protective effect…”