Enzymatic extraction of fucoxanthin from brown seaweeds

Abstract

Summary Brown seaweeds contain a number of bioactive compounds. The xanthophyll, fucoxanthin, has in vivo efficacy against disorders such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and cancer. Organic solvents are traditionally employed to extract fucoxanthin, but carry a toxic chemical and environmental burden. The aim of this study was to optimise a fucoxanthin extraction method using enzymes, water, low‐temperature dehydration and mechanical blending, to produce yields comparable to those achieved with an organic solvent (acetone). Response surface methodology was applied, using Fucus vesiculosus as a model species. A fucoxanthin yield of 0.657 mg g−1 (dry mass) was obtained from F. vesiculosus blade using the enzymatic method, equivalent to 94% of the acetone‐extracted yield. Optimum extraction parameters were determined to be enzyme‐to‐water ratio 0.52%, seaweed‐to‐water ratio 5.37% and enzyme incubation time 3.05 h. These findings may be applied to the development of value‐added nutraceutical products from seaweed.

Scientific Approaches on Extraction, Purification and Stability for the Commercialization of Fucoxanthin Recovered from Brown Algae

“…Moreover, it is a green technology with no toxic waste and is relatively cheap regarding the cost-effectiveness of the enzymes. A study with Fucus vesiculosus shows that by using the enzyme Viscozyme, the best conditions were enzyme-to-W ratio 0.52%, seaweed-to-W ratio 5.37% and enzyme incubation time 3 h. These conditions allowed 0.657 mg/g DW of fucoxanthin to be obtained [35]. Almost a complete recovery of fucoxanthin (96%) extraction was achieved through U. pinnatifida by using an enzymatic pre-treatment and then dimethyl ether (DME)+EtOH.…”

“…Regarding S. horneri, yield differences were more pronounced, obtaining 4.49 and 0.77 mg/g DW of fucoxanthin using ME and SFE, respectively [27]. F. vesiculosus has been extracted by VAE and EAE, both techniques showing similar fucoxanthin recovery values: 0.70 and 0.66 mg/g DW, respectively [31,35]. Several studies have extracted fucoxanthin from Dictyota dichotoma using ME and VAE.…”

Therapeutic Effect of Seaweed Derived Xanthophyl Carotenoid on Obesity Management; Overview of the Last Decade

“…Both FXN and ASX are accumulated in the pigments of different seaweed species [38,61] While FXN is peculiar to brown-algae (e.g., Undaria pinnatifida), ASX is found in substantial amounts in green-algae (e.g., Haematococcus pluvialis). In their single compounds, these carotenoids (FXN and ASX) are extracted from seaweeds by organic solvents such as acetone, chloroform, ethanol, diethyl ether, etc., accompanied by simple extraction techniques including maceration [62,63] and vortex microextraction [64], as well as innovative extraction technologies such as pressurized liquid [65], supercritical fluids [66][67][68][69], microwave extraction [70,71], ultrasound extraction [72,73], and enzyme-assisted [74,75] extraction. The FXN (orange-pigmented) and ASX (red-pigmented) xanthophyll carotenoids from seaweed have been reported to exhibit high antioxidant capacities [76].…”

Screening of effective solvents for obtaining antioxidant‐rich seaweed extracts using principal component analysis

“…Solvents such as methanol and ethanol are considered as efficient as they break the cell walls and assists in extraction (Lapornik, Prošek, & Wondra, 2005). However, conventional extraction using solvents involves longer duration, large amounts of solvents, removal of solvents which further affects the process economy, efficiency, and even the environment (Shannon & Abu‐Ghannam, 2018; Vatai, Škerget, & Knez, 2009). Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has emerged as a feasible alternative to the conventional methods in extracting bioactive compounds.…”