Total phenolic, size‐fractionated phenolics and fucoxanthin content of tropical Sargassaceae (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) from the South Pacific Ocean: Spatial and specific variability

Abstract

International audienceThis innovative study investigates 18 Turbinaria and Sargassum brown seaweed samples from three archipelagos of the South West Pacific Ocean. The phenolic content of crude and size-fractionated extracts was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method; fucoxanthin was measured using high performance liquid chromatography. Although the phenolic content proved to be low for the species of both genera tested, the levels in the species of Turbinaria were higher than those of Sargassum tested, except in the Fiji islands where both species produced similar contents. These investigations also highlighted variations of total phenolic content with spatial, reef morphology and depth. A large number of small phenolic compounds (<2000 Da) were observed irrespective of the genus analyzed. Nevertheless, the composition of the phenolic pool varied in relation with the genus, the archipelago from which the material was collected, geomorphological features and the depth of each collection field site. A similar observation was for fucoxanthin content and in general, the measured constituents of the Turbinaria were less than those of the Sargassum species. The results are discussed in terms of inter- and intra-specific variability. Variations in both phenolic and fucoxanthin content were noted in tropical members of the Sargassaceae; such differences could be a result of specific chemical defense mechanisms adopted by members of each genus

Phenology, TPC and size-fractioning phenolics variability in temperate Sargassaceae (Phaeophyceae, Fucales) from Western Brittany: Native versus introduced species

“…The pool of phenolic compounds from Sargassaceae species is composed by a majority of small molecules (<2000 Da) (without taking in consideration C. baccata from Pointe du Diable in summer 2007). Similar ratios were obtained in tropical Sargassaceae species from South Pacific islands (Le Lann et al, 2012): oligophenols, i.e. phenolic compounds with low molecular weight, less than 2000 Da, dominated the pool of phenolic compounds.…”

“…Bjerke et al, 2005;Fairhead et al, 2006). Phenolic content in Phaeophyceae is governed by various environmental factors such as factors related to seasonality Stiger et al, 2004;Plouguerné et al, 2006), light (Abdala-Díaz et al, 2006), depth in the water column (Le Lann et al, 2012) and nutrient concentration (Yates and Peckol, 1993). Most studies demonstrated the biological activities of phlorotannins considering these molecules as a pool.…”

Seasonal variation of total lipid, fatty acids, fucoxanthin content, and antioxidant properties of two tropical brown algae (Nizamuddinia zanardinii and Cystoseira indica) from Iran

“…The different fucoxanthin contents in different seasons are mainly due to light exposure and temperature fluctuations (Nomura et al 2013). According to the results in Table 1, fucoxanthin content in N. zanardinii and C. indica is significantly higher than other species from tropical areas (Nomura et al 2013;Lann et al 2012;Jaswir et al 2013a;Fung et al 2013;Terasaki et al 2009). It is likely that fucoxanthin in the studied species not only has a light harvesting role but also acts as a strong photoprotectant.…”

Antioxidant potential and cytotoxic activity of two red seaweed species, Amansia multifida and Meristiella echinocarpa, from the coast of Northeastern Brazil

“…Variation in TPC values of marine macroalgae could be influenced by extrinsic factors (such as herbivory pressure, irradiance, depth, salinity and nutrients), by intrinsic factors (morphology, age and reproductive stage), but also by the type of solvent used in the extraction of the phenolic compounds (Chew et al 2008, Ganesan et al 2011, Lann et al 2012 …”