Brown seaweed Cystoseira schiffneri as a promising source of sulfated fucans: Seasonal variability of structural, chemical, and antioxidant properties

Abdelkarim Benslima; Sabrine Sellimi; Marwa Hamdi; Rim Nasri; Mourad Jridi; Didier Cot; Suming Li; Moncef Nasri; Nacim Zouari

doi:10.1002/fsn3.2130

Brown seaweed Cystoseira schiffneri as a promising source of sulfated fucans: Seasonal variability of structural, chemical, and antioxidant properties

Food Sci Nutr. 2021 Jan 16;9(3):1551-1563. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.2130. eCollection 2021 Mar.

Authors

Abdelkarim Benslima^{1

2}, Sabrine Sellimi¹, Marwa Hamdi¹, Rim Nasri¹, Mourad Jridi^{1

3}, Didier Cot⁴, Suming Li⁴, Moncef Nasri¹, Nacim Zouari^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Enzyme Engineering and Microbiology National Engineering School of Sfax (ENIS) University of Sfax Sfax Tunisia.
² Higher Institute of Applied Biology of Medenine (ISBAM) University of Gabes Medenine Tunisia.
³ Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Beja (ISBB) University of Jendouba Beja Tunisia.
⁴ Institut Européen des Membranes IEM-UMR 5635 University of Montpellier ENSCM CNRS Montpellier France.

Abstract

A fucoidan, sulfated polysaccharide, was extracted from the brown seaweed Cystoseira schiffneri during 4 harvest periods (December, April, July, and September) and studied for its structural and chemical properties. The Cystoseira schiffneri fucoidan (CSF) showed important variation in sulfate content ranging from 7.8% in December to 34.8% in July. This was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies showing characteristic signals of sulfated polysaccharides. Molecular mass of the CSF varied as a function of season from 3,745 in December to 26,390 Da in July. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy showed that CSF fractions were "mannogalactofucans" composed mainly of mannose, fucose, and galactose with low levels of other monosaccharides. Moreover, interesting in vitro antioxidant activities that depend on the harvest season were noted for CSF. Thus, the present work might contribute to establish criteria for extracting bioactive fucoidans from an endemic Tunisian seaweed C. schiffneri.

Keywords: Cystoseiraschiffneri; antioxidant activity; brown seaweed; fucoidans; seasonal variation; structural characterization.