Pigment Composition of Nine Brown Algae from the Iberian Northwestern Coastline: Influence of the Extraction Solvent

Abstract

Brown algae are ubiquitously distributed in the NW coastline of the Iberian Peninsula, where they stand as an underexploited resource. In this study, five solvents were applied to the extraction of pigments from nine brown algae, followed by their determination and quantification by HPLC-DAD. A total of 13 compounds were detected: Six were identified as chlorophylls, six were classified as xanthophylls, and one compound was reported as a carotene. Fucoxanthin was reported in all extracts, which is the most prominent pigment of these algae. Among them, L. saccharina and U. pinnatifida present the highest concentration of fucoxanthin (4.5–4.7 mg∙g−1 dry weight). Ethanol and acetone were revealed as the most efficient solvents for the extraction of pigments, showing a maximal value of 11.9 mg of total pigments per gram of dry alga obtained from the ethanolic extracts of H. elongata, followed by the acetonic extracts of L. ochroleuca. Indeed, ethanol was also revealed as the most efficient solvent according to its high extraction yield along all species evaluated. Our results supply insights into the pigment composition of brown algae, opening new perspectives on their commercial exploitation by food, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical industries.

An extensive review of marine pigments: sources, biotechnological applications, and sustainability

“…This study gives information about the potential use of brown algae for pigment extraction for industrial applications Garcia-Perez et al. ( 2022 ) Phycoerythrin Kappaphycus alvarezii Ultrasound The use of ultrasound and later precipitation with ammonium sulfate obtained 1.910 mg/mL of the pigment with a purity index of 0.831, and protein concentration of 0.521 mg/mL. Besides, phycoerythrin showed strong antioxidant activity Uju et al.…”

“…Therefore, the current consumer demand for less processed products has required the evolution of the market toward the exploitation of resources of biological origins (Garcia-Perez et al. 2022 ). This has increased the search for natural sources of pigments.…”

“…Synthetic pigments contain azo dyes/heavy metal in high concentrations, which are harmful to the environment and positively related to cancer of the skin, liver, and bladder (Nawaz et al 2021). Therefore, the current consumer demand for less processed products has required the evolution of the market toward the exploitation of resources of biological origins (Garcia-Perez et al 2022). This has increased the search for natural sources of pigments.…”

Emerging Technologies to Extract Fucoxanthin from Undaria pinnatifida: Microwave vs. Ultrasound Assisted Extractions

“…The applied methodology produced an extraction yield of 38.84% and allowed us to identify 10 compounds in the ethanolic extract. In this study, EtOH was selected due to the following reasons: (i) acetone and EtOH are two solvents used for the extraction of bioactive compounds in the food technology market, (ii) Fx is a polar compound, and (iii) EtOH is more polar than acetone and facilitates the selective heating of the microwaves (for following MAE), reaching higher extraction yields [ 36 ].…”

High-Purity Fucoxanthin Can Be Efficiently Prepared from Isochrysis zhangjiangensis by Ethanol-Based Green Method Coupled with Octadecylsilyl (ODS) Column Chromatography

“…Presently, commercial FX is mainly extracted from brown seaweeds, because FX is the major carotenoid in seaweeds with a relatively low cost for its extraction [ 12 ].The development of green technology for the extraction of fucoxanthin from diverse brown algae using green solvents has received great attention [ 13 ], especially the potential application of natural deep eutectic solvents [ 14 , 15 ]. Compared with brown seaweeds, marine microalgae feature a richer FX content and can be cultured under controlled conditions to produce a specific biochemical product [ 6 , 16 ].…”