Macromolecular Antioxidants and Dietary Fiber in Edible Seaweeds.
Seaweeds are rich in different bioactive compounds with potential uses in drugs, cosmetics and the food industry. The objective of this study was to analyze macromolecular antioxidants or nonextractable polyphenols, in several edible seaweed species collected in Chile (Gracilaria chilensis, Callophyllis concepcionensis, Macrocystis pyrifera, Scytosyphon lomentaria, Ulva sp. and Enteromorpha compressa), including their 1st HPLC characterization. Macromolecular antioxidants are commonly ignored in studies of bioactive compounds. They are associated with insoluble dietary fiber and exhibit significant biological activity, with specific features that are different from those of both dietary fiber and extractable polyphenols. We also evaluated extractable polyphenols and dietary fiber, given their relationship with macromolecular antioxidants. Our results show that macromolecular antioxidants are a major polyphenol fraction (averaging 42% to total polyphenol content), with hydroxycinnamic acids, hydroxybenzoic acids and flavonols being the main constituents. This fraction also showed remarkable antioxidant capacity, as determined by 2 complementary assays. The dietary fiber content was over 50% of dry weight, with some samples exhibiting the target proportionality between soluble and insoluble dietary fiber for adequate nutrition. Overall, our data show that seaweed could be an important source of commonly ignored macromolecular antioxidants.
Dept. of Metabolism and Nutrition, Inst. of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
Nerea
N
Sanz-Pintos
Dept. of Metabolism and Nutrition, Inst. of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
Jara
J
Pérez-Jiménez
Centro i-mar y CeBiB, Univ. de Los Lagos, Puerto Montt, Chile.
Alejandro H
AH
Buschmann
Pontificia Univ. Católica de Chile, Dept. of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, Santiago, Chile.
José Rodrigo
JR
Vergara-Salinas
Pontificia Univ. Católica de Chile, Dept. of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, Santiago, Chile.
José Ricardo
JR
Pérez-Correa
Dept. of Metabolism and Nutrition, Inst. of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
Fulgencio
F
Saura-Calixto
D000975:Antioxidants / Q000032:analysis*; D002677:Chile; D003373:Coumaric Acids / Q000032:analysis; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000032:analysis*; D059808:Polyphenols / Q000032:analysis; D000461:Rhodophyta / Q000737:chemistry*; D012624:Seaweed / Q000737:chemistry*; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry*
D000975:Antioxidants; D003373:Coumaric Acids; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D059808:Polyphenols
dietary fiber, edible seaweeds; macromolecular antioxidants; polyphenols