Phenolic content and antioxidant capacity in algal food products

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2015-01, Vol.20 (1), p.1118-1133
• Main Authors: Machu, Ludmila, Misurcova, Ladislava, Ambrozova, Jarmila Vavra, Orsavova, Jana, Mlcek, Jiri, Sochor, Jiri, Jurikova, Tunde
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algae; antioxidant capacity of water soluble compounds; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Chlorella pyrenoidosa; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Cocoa; Cyanobacteria; Diabetes; Eisenia bicyclis; Fatty acids; Flavonoids; Folin-Ciocalteu; Food Analysis; Food products; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; Hizikia; Laminaria japonica; Oxidative stress; Palmaria palmata; Phenols; Phenols - analysis; photochemiluminescence; Polyphenols; Porphyra tenera; Radiation; Seaweed - chemistry; Solubility; Spirulina platensis; Undaria pinnatifida; Water
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules20011118

The study objective was to investigate total phenolic content using Folin-Ciocalteu's method, to assess nine phenols by HPLC, to determine antioxidant capacity of the water soluble compounds (ACW) by a photochemiluminescence method, and to calculate the correlation coefficients in commercial algal food products from brown (Laminaria japonica, Eisenia bicyclis, Hizikia fusiformis, Undaria pinnatifida) and red (Porphyra tenera, Palmaria palmata) seaweed, green freshwater algae (Chlorella pyrenoidosa), and cyanobacteria (Spirulina platensis). HPLC analysis showed that the most abundant phenolic compound was epicatechin. From spectrophotometry and ACW determination it was evident that brown seaweed Eisenia bicyclis was the sample with the highest phenolic and ACW values (193 mg·g-1 GAE; 7.53 µmol AA·g-1, respectively). A linear relationship existed between ACW and phenolic contents (r = 0.99). Some algal products seem to be promising functional foods rich in polyphenols.