Crude fucoidan content in two North Atlantic kelp species, Saccharina latissima and Laminaria digitata—seasonal variation and impact of environmental factors

Abstract

Fucoidans are sulphated fucose-rich polysaccharides predominantly found in the cell walls of brown algae. The bioactive properties of fucoidans attract increasing interest from the medico-pharmaceutical industries and may drive an increase in demand of brown algae biomass. In nature, the biochemical composition of brown algae displays a seasonal fluctuation driven by environmental factors and endogenous rhythms. To cultivate and harvest kelps with high yields of fucoidans, knowledge is needed on seasonal variation and impact of environmental conditions on the fucoidan content of brown algae. The relations between the fucoidan content and key environmental factors (irradiance, nutrient availability, salinity and exposure) were examined by sampling natural populations of the common North Atlantic kelps, Saccharina latissima and Laminaria digitata, over a full year at Hanstholm in the North Sea and Aarhus in the Kattegat. In addition, laboratory experiments were carried out isolating the effects of the single factors. The results demonstrated that (1) seasonal variation alters the fucoidan content by a factor of 2–2.6; (2) interspecific differences exist in the concentrations of crude fucoidan (% of dry matter): L. digitata (11%) > S. latissima (6%); and (3) the effects of single environmental factors were not consistent between species or between different conspecific populations. The ambiguous response to single environmental factors complicates prospective directions for manipulating an increased content of fucoidan in a cultivation scenario and emphasizes the need for knowledge on performance of local kelp ecotypes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10811-017-1204-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Enzyme-Assisted Fucoidan Extraction from Brown Macroalgae Fucus distichus subsp. evanescens and Saccharina latissima

“…Extraction procedures can affect the molecular weight of fucoidans and molecular weight is an important factor that can influence fucoidan bioactivity [ 6 ]. The enzyme-assisted extraction procedure was expected to result in intact fucoidans with larger molecular weight than that obtained by chemical extraction.…”

“…Polysaccharides are intensively studied due to their useful bioactivities, such as antioxidant [ 1 ], antitumor [ 2 ], neuroprotective [ 3 ], anti-inflammatory, and anticoagulant [ 4 ]. Fucoidan content and monosaccharide composition depend on many factors, such as seaweed species, environmental conditions, collecting time, and methods used for polysaccharide extraction and purification [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Fucoidans are heteropolymers that are primarily composed of fucose, but may include other sugars, i.e.…”

Water and Lipid-Soluble Component Profile of <i>Sargassum cristaefolium</i> from Different Coastal Areas in Indonesia with Potential for Developing Functional Ingredient

“…Seaweed tends to accommodate the high wave and water current velocity with the tough cell wall structure. Study of Bruhn et al 29 showed that mechanical stress in the form of increased exposure high wave and high wind speed could increase FCSPs content in brown seaweed Saccharina latissima and Laminaria digitata growing around Aarhus water area Denmark , although this linear relationship between FCSPs and exposure could not be generalized to all environmental condition. Besides its function in forming cell wall integrity, FCSPs is known to play an important role in regulating the cell osmotic pressure under extreme salinity conditions 28,30 .…”

“…Besides its function in forming cell wall integrity, FCSPs is known to play an important role in regulating the cell osmotic pressure under extreme salinity conditions 28,30 . Other factors such as reproduction, season, part of the thallus, and age of plant will determine FCSPs content in algae tissue 29,31,32 . The resulted FCSPs were analyzed for its sugar profile using HPLC-RI.…”

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Candidate Genes Related to Structural and Storage Carbohydrate Biosynthesis in Kelp Saccharina japonica (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae)

“…2018), and other environmental factors (Ehrig and Alban 2015, Bruhn et al. 2017). Thus, the variation of growth traits and dynamic changes in the content of carbohydrate components may help us to understand the biological process of carbohydrate metabolism.…”