Antioxidants from marine macroalgae: chemical characterization and in vitro activity

Author(s)

Thais Guaratini

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Conjunto das Químicas (IQ e FCF) (CQ/DBDCQ)
• Defense date: 2008-04-09

Examining board members

Pio Colepicolo Neto; Etelvino José Henriques Bechara; Paolo Di Mascio; Sérgio Akira Uyemura; Nair Sumie Yokoya

• Advisor: Pio Colepicolo Neto

Abstract

Classic maceration is one of the most used processes to obtain commercially viable extracts. Despite several substances can be extracted by using these methods, molecules that are susceptible to oxidative degradation may not resist. In this work it was evaluated the antioxidant activity of extracts of different species of marine macroalgae, obtained through phytochemistry classic methods. The extracts showed no significant activity in the experimental models used. In addition, fatty acids and steroids from algae were analyzed by gas chromatography. Results indicated greater amount of unsaturated fatty acids and some of the algae showed the cholesterol as the major steroid. Although some carotenoids remained in the algae extract, they were found in low concentrations and no other molecule resistant to the methods of extraction employed was detected. Thus, it was turned to the development of methodologies for carotenoids analysis, which are known substances with antioxidant activity. A method was standardized by HPLC-UV-EC, which separated a total of 16 pigments and the data obtained in both detectors were compared. Even though the electrochemical detector is generally more sensitive, better results were obtained using the DAD detector. With a standardized methodology, it was possible to obtain the profile of pigments for each species studied. To continue the development of methodologies for carotenoids analysis, standards of this class of substances and other polyene-containing molecules were studied by mass spectrometry. Ionization mechanisms were elucidated by using different sources. A balance between the formation of radical and protonated ions was proposed for xanthophylls when ionized by ESI. When ESI was used to ionize retinoids and carotenes, only protonated and radical ions, respectively, were found. Besides theoretical calculations of ionization energy, it was suggested that the formation of the molecular ion, except for the analyses in ESI, is dependent on the conjugation extension and is related to the presence of oxygen in the molecule. Studies using the nanoSpray source showed opposite results. In this case, it was obtained higher intensity of the protonated ions for xanthophylls, even in the absence of acid. To support the results obtained in ESI, synthetic molecules containing different length of polyene chain and a flavonic portion were analyzed. Those with the greatest conjugation chain showed low intensity of the molecular ion and decoupling reactions at the source. This effect was similar to that observed for ß- carotene in the same conditions. The structure with the smaller polyene chain presented a more stable molecular ion. Furthermore, the ionization energy calculated for the larger molecule was lower, corroborating with the experimental data and suggesting that the larger \"Caro-Flavo\" should present a better antioxidant activity. These synthetic substances, along with astaxanthin and epicatechin, were tested according to their activity in inhibiting UVA or UVB induced lipoperoxidation. The largest \"Caro-Flavo\" showed better antioxidant activity when UVB-irradiated in the lowest irradiation dose. Nevertheless, when this molecule is UVA-irradiated, a pro-oxidant activity is even more pronounced than the astaxanthin pro-oxidant activity. In these experiments, a pro-oxidant activity for the smallest \"Caro-Flavo\" was verified for all irradiation conditions. Other synthetic molecules, derived from α-tocopherol were also tested and showed no statistically significant differences, when compared to this vitamin. (AU)