Carotenoid composition and antioxidant potential of Eucheuma denticulatum, Sargassum polycystum and Caulerpa lentillifera

V Balasubramaniam; L June Chelyn; S Vimala; M N Mohd Fairulnizal; I A Brownlee; I Amin

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04654

Carotenoid composition and antioxidant potential of Eucheuma denticulatum, Sargassum polycystum and Caulerpa lentillifera

Heliyon. 2020 Aug 12;6(8):e04654. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04654. eCollection 2020 Aug.

Authors

V Balasubramaniam¹, L June Chelyn², S Vimala³, M N Mohd Fairulnizal¹, I A Brownlee⁴, I Amin⁵

Affiliations

¹ Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Level 3, Block C7, No.1, Jalan Setia Murni U13/52, Setia Alam, 40170, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
² Herbal Medicine Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Level 3, Block C7, No.1, Jalan Setia Murni U13/52, Setia Alam, 40170, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
³ Forest Research Institute Malaysia, 52109, Kepong, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
⁴ Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 8ST, UK.
⁵ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Abstract

Three species of Malaysian edible seaweed (Eucheuma denticulatum, Sargassum polycystum and Caulerpa lentillifera) were analyzed for their carotenoid composition using a combination of high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS), while the antioxidant capacities were determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assays. The HPTLC analysis exhibited a distinct carotenoid pattern among the three seaweed groups. The UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis showed fucoxanthin as the major carotenoid present in S. polycystum while lutein and zeaxanthin in E. denticulatum. For C. lentillifera, β-carotene and canthaxanthin were the major carotenoids. Some of the carotenoids, such as rubixanthin, dinoxanthin, diatoxanthin and antheraxanthin, were also tentatively detected in E. denticulatum and S. polycystum. For antioxidant activity, S. polycystum (20 %) and E. denticulatum (1128 μmol TE/g) showed the highest activity in the DPPH and ORAC assays, respectively. The findings suggest the three edible varieties of seaweeds may provide a good dietary source with a potential to reduce antioxidative stress.

Keywords: Antioxidant; Carotenoid; Caulerpa lentillifera; Eucheuma denticulatum; Food analysis; Food science; Food technology; LC-MS/MS; Nutrition; Orbitrap; Sargassum polycystum.