Dublin Institute of Technology
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Articles
School of Food Science and Environmental Health
2011-01-01
Bioactive Potential and Possible Health Effects of
Edible Brown Seaweeds
Shilpi Gupta
Dublin Institute of Technology, [email protected]
Nissreen Abu-Ghannam
Dublin Institute of Technology, [email protected]
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Gupta S, Abu-Ghannam N (2011) Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds. Trends in Food Science and
Technology, 22: 315-326. doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
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Dublin Institute of Technology
ARROW@DIT
Articles
School of Food Science and Environmental
Health
1-1-2011
Bioactive Potential and Possible Health Effects of
Edible Brown Seaweeds
Shilpi Gupta
Nissreen Abu-Ghannam
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of
Food Science and Environmental Health at ARROW@DIT. It has been
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TIFS1270_proof ■ 15 April 2011 ■ 1/12
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Trends in Food Science & Technology xx (2011) 1e12
Review
Bioactive potential
and possible health
effects of edible
brown seaweeds
Shilpi Gupta and
Nissreen Abu-Ghannam*
School of Food Science and Environmental Health,
College of Sciences and Health, Dublin Institute
of Technology, Cathal Brugha St., Dublin 1, Ireland.
(Tel.: D353 1 402 7570; fax: D353 1 402 4411;
e-mail: [email protected])
Marine macroalgae (seaweeds) are rich in bioactive compounds that could potentially be exploited as functional ingredients for both human and animal health applications. Despite
the intensive efforts that are being made to isolate and identify
new compounds with potential medicinal, health or pharmaceutical activities, very few compounds with real potency
are available. Bioactive compounds that are most extensively
researched include sulfated polysaccharides, phlorotannins
and diterpenes. These compounds have been reported to possess strong anti-viral, anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties. At
the same time, the prebiotic health potential of the polysaccharides from seaweeds is also increasingly being studied
either by feeding whole seaweeds or purified polysaccharides
to laboratory and farm animals. The present review discusses
the pharmaceutical, health and research potential of different
bioactive compounds present in brown seaweeds.
Introduction
Algae are heterogeneous group of plants with a long fossil history. Due to their low content in lipids, high concentration in polysaccharides, natural richness in minerals,
polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamins as well as their
content in bioactive molecules, marine algae are known
to be a good source of healthy food. Unlike the land plants,
* Corresponding author.
these algae have no roots, leaves or vascular systems; however they nourish themselves through the process of osmosis. Two major types of algae that have been identified are
the microalgae which are found in both benthic and littoral
habitats and also throughout the ocean waters as phytoplankton and the macroalgae or seaweeds which occupy
the littoral zone. Seaweeds grow in the intertidal as well
as in the sub-tidal area up to a certain depth where very little photosynthetic light is available. Seaweeds are classified
into green algae (chlorophyta), brown algae (phaeophyta)
and red algae (rhodophyta) on the basis of chemical composition. The color in case of green seaweeds is due to the
presence of chlorophyll a and b in the same proportions
as the ’higher’ plants; beta-carotene (a yellow pigment)
and various characteristic xanthophylls (yellowish or
brownish pigments). The dominance of the xanthophyll
pigment, fucoxanthin, is responsible for the color of brown
seaweeds. This compound masks the other pigments such
as Chlorophyll a and c and other xanthophylls. Phycoerythrin and phycocyanin mask the pigments such as Chlorophyll a and beta-carotene and are responsible for the
color of red seaweeds. Seaweeds are considered as a source
of bioactive compounds as they are able to produce a great
variety of secondary metabolites characterized by a broad
spectrum of biological activities. They are an excellent
source of vitamins such as A, Bl, B12, C, D and E, riboflavin, niacin, pantothanic acid and folic acid as well as minerals such as Ca, P, Na, K (Dhargalkar & Pereira, 2005).
The fat content of seaweeds accounts for 1e6 g/100 g
dry weight with some brown varieties, such as Hizikia sp.
and Arame, having a fat content as low as 0.7e0.9 g/
100 g dry weight (Kolb, Vallorani, & Stocchi, 1999). The
red and the green species are rich in carbohydrates whereas
the brown seaweeds are rich in soluble fiber and iodine. The
highest iodine content is found in brown algae, with dry
kelp (Laminaria) ranging from 1500 to 8000 ppm and dry
rockweed (Fucus) from 500 to 1000 ppm (www.
itmonline.org). Although seaweeds are exposed to the adverse environmental conditions such as light and high oxygen concentrations that lead to the formation of free
radicals, and other strong oxidizing agents, they do not
have any serious photodynamic damage in vivo. Thus, it
can be said that seaweeds are able to generate the necessary
compounds to protect themselves from external factors
such as pollution, stress and UV radiation. This fact suggests that marine algae, like photosynthesizing plants,
0924-2244/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
Please cite this article in press as: Gupta, S., & Abu-Ghannam, N., Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds, Trends in Food
Science & Technology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
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Nomenclature
mM
d.w.
DPHC
EC50
Micro molar
Dry weight
diphlorethohydroxycarmalol
Effective concentration of samples at which
50% effect is seen
GIT
Gastro intestinal tract
HCMV Human cytomegalovirus
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus
HSV
Herpes Simplex Virus
IC50
Concentration at which 50% inhibition is
achieved
kDa
Kilo Dalton
ppm
Parts per million
RT
Reverse transcriptase
SVHV Sargassum vulgare high viscosity
SVLV Sargassum vulgare low viscosity
UV
Ultra violet
VHOC Volatile halogenated organic compounds
have anti-oxidative mechanisms and compounds which act
as anti-oxidant agents. At the same time, several species of
seaweeds have also been found to produce or contain polysaccharides, glycoproteins or other secondary metabolites
with antimicrobial (Cox et al., 2009; Gupta, Rajauria, &
Abu-Ghannam, 2010a), antitumoral (Koyanagi, Tanigawa,
Nakagawa, Soeda, & Shimeno, 2003; Zubia et al., 2009)
or anti-viral activity (Artan et al., 2008; Hemmingson,
Falshaw, Furneaux, & Thompson, 2006; Zhu, Chiu, Ooi,
Chan, & Angjr, 2004; 2003). Among all the three types
highest phytochemical content have been reported from
brown seaweeds (Seafoodplus, 2008). Thus, this review
will mainly focus on the bioactive compounds present in
the brown seaweeds. Recent developments in the isolation
of compounds and characterization of the types of bioactive
compounds from brown seaweeds will also be discussed.
Focus is placed on the main classes of compounds that
could be of medicinal and pharmaceutical value. The health
benefits from the consumption of edible seaweeds and their
role in nutrition is also explained.
Important metabolites from seaweeds
The division Phaeophyta consists of 13 orders according
to the classification of Bold and Wynne (1985). However,
only three orders namely Laminariales, Fucales and Dictyotales have been extensively researched for their phytochemicals. The most studied species of these orders are
Laminaria, Ecklonia, Undaria, Himanthalia and Dictyota.
In addition to being rich in polysaccharide, other important
categories of metabolites found in brown seaweeds include
polyphloroglucinol phenolic compounds (Ahn et al., 2004;
Chandini, Ganesan, Suresh, & Bhaskar, 2008), non-polar,
non-polyphenolic secondary metabolites such as terpenes
(Siamopoulou et al., 2004), carotenoids such as fucoxanthin, volatile halogenated organic compounds (VHOCs)
(Borchardt et al., 2001) and oxylipins (Kupper et al.,
2006; Rorrer et al., 1995). This review will mainly focus
on polysaccharides, polyphenolic compounds and terpenes
in brown seaweeds.
Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides are a class of macromolecules which
are increasingly gaining attention in the biochemical and
medical areas due to their immunomodulatory and anticancer effects. These are present primarily in the cell walls
and the composition varies according to season, age, species and geographic location. In addition to acting as
a food reserve they also provide strength and flexibility to
the plant to withstand wave action and maintain ionic equilibrium in the cell. The regularity of their structures also
promotes interaction with external ions and inter-chain hydrogen bonding (e.g., gelation). Brown seaweeds are known
to produce different polysaccharides, like alginates, fucoidans, and laminarans. Laminarans and fucoidans are the
main water-soluble polysaccharides of brown algae
whereas high-molecular mass alginic acids are alkalisoluble polysaccharides.
Cellulose microfibrils in cell wall of brown algae are
embedded in an amorphous matrix of acid polysaccharide
linked to each other by proteins. Brown algae have two
kinds of acid polysaccharides present in the extracellular
matrix: sulfated fucans and alginic acid.
Fucans, (Fig. 1a), can be classified into three major
groups: fucoidans, xylofucoglycuronans and glycorunogalactofucans. Fucoidan is a branched polysaccharide sulfate
ester with L-fucose 4-sulfate building blocks as the major
Fig. 1. Structural unit of polysaccharides from brown algae (a) fucoidan; (b) laminaran.
Please cite this article in press as: Gupta, S., & Abu-Ghannam, N., Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds, Trends in Food
Science & Technology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
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component. They are predominantly a(1/2)-linked with
branching or a sulfate ester group at C3 and is composed
of fucose, uronic acids, galactose, xylose and sulfated fucose. The molecular weights reported for fucoidans vary
in the range of approximately 100 kDa (Patankar,
Oehninger, Barnett, Williams, & Clark, 1993) to
1600 kDa (Ruperez, Ahrazem, & Leal, 2002). Fucoidan
is soluble in water and in acid solution (Ruperez et al.,
2002). Acid hydrolysis of fucoidan yields various amounts
of D-xylose, D-galactose, and uronic acid. Algal fucoidans
are mainly found in Fucales and Laminariales, but are
also present in Chordariales, Dictyotales, Dictyosiphonales,
Ectocarpales, and Scytosiphonales. In fact, this kind of sulfated polysaccharide has been discovered in all the brown
algae investigated so far, but seems to be absent in green
algae, red algae, as well as in freshwater algae and terrestrial plants (Shanmugam & Mody, 2000). Xylofucoglycuronans or ascophyllans consist of a polyuronide backbone,
mainly polyp-(1,4)-D-mannuronic acid branched with
3-O-D-xylosyl-L-fucose-4-sulfate or occasionally uronic
acid. Glycuronogalactofucans are composed of linear
chains of (1,4)-D-galactose branched at C5 with L-fucosyl-3-sulfate or occasionally uronic acid (Jimenez-Escrig
& Sanchez-Muniz, 2000).
Laminaran (or laminarin) was first discovered in Laminaria species and appears to be the food reserve of all
brown algae. The major sugar of Laminaria species is laminaran whose structure and composition vary according to
algae species. Laminaran is a water-soluble polysaccharide
containing 20-25 glucose units which are composed of
(1,3)-b-D-glucan with b(1,6) branching (Nelson & Lewis,
1974) (Fig. 1b). There are two types of laminaran chains
(M or G), which differ in their reducing end. M chains
end with a mannitol residue whereas G chains end with
a glucose residue. Laminaran’s molecular weight is approximately 5000 Da depending on the degree of polymerization. Most laminarans form complex structures that are
stabilized by inter-chain hydrogen bonds and are therefore
resistant to hydrolysis in the upper gastro-intestinal tract
(GIT) and are considered as dietary fibers (Neyrinck,
Mouson, & Delzenne, 2007). The structure and the biological activities of laminaran and galactofucan are thought to
be influenced by environmental factors, such as water temperature, nutritive salt, salinity, waves, sea current and
depth of immersion. In addition to the role of laminarins
as prebiotics and dietary fibers they have also been reported
to possess antibacterial and anti-tumor activities.
Alginic acid or alginate is the common name given to
a family of linear polysaccharides containing 1,4-linked
b-D-mannuronic and a-L-guluronic acid (Fig. 2) residues
arranged in a non-regular, block wise order along the chain
(Andrade et al., 2004). Alginate produced by brown seaweed, especially in the form of sodium and calcium alginate, is widely used in the food and pharmaceutical
industries due to their ability to chelate metal ions and to
form highly viscous solutions.
3
Fig. 2. Monomeric compounds present in Alginic acid. (a) b-D-mannuronic acid; (b) a-L-guluronic acid (Davis, Volesky, & Mucci, 2003).
Sulfated polysaccharides from marine algae have been
described as possessing diverse biological activities with
potential medicinal value, such as anti-coagulant, anti-tumor, anti-viral and anti-oxidant (Koyanagi et al., 2003;
Ponce, Pujol, Damonte, Flores, & Stoerz, 2003;
Shanmugam & Mody, 2000; Wijesekara, Pangestuti, &
Kim, 2011 (and references therein)).
Other metabolites from seaweeds
Phlorotanins (Fig. 3) are tannin derivatives which are
composed of phloroglucinol-based phenolics (1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene) and are synthesized via the acetatemalonate pathway. They are stored in special vesicals
(physodes) and are thought to be the defense compounds in
brown seaweeds. The concentration of phlorotannins in
brown algae is reported to be highly variable among different
taxa of brown seaweeds as well as among different geographical areas. Concentrations are reported to be higher in fucoid
species and those obtained from the Atlantic and the temperate Pacific as compared to those obtained from the tropical
Pacific (Targett & Arnold, 1998). Phlorotannins have secondary functions as defensive compounds and primary roles in
cell-wall construction (Arnold & Targett, 2003).
Diterpenes (Fig. 4) are non-volatile halogenated compounds with different carbon structure including xenicane,
dolabellane and prenylated guaiane skeletons (Blunt et al.,
2009). Brown algae belonging to the genus Dictyota are
a rich source of diterpenes. Dictyodial, dictyol C and dictyol
H, which are typical algal terpenes previously isolated from
different species of Dictyota (Manzo et al., 2009). These secondary metabolites deter feeding by marine herbivores.
Volatile halogenated compounds such as bromophenols
are common marine secondary metabolites, arising largely
from the propensity of the phenol moiety to undergo electrophilic bromination. Bromophenols have been isolated
from taxonomically diverse marine algae, for example,
the brown algae Fucus vesiculosus and Leathesia nana
(Xu et al., 2004a; 2004b). These compounds have been
reported to act as a natural defense mechanism to prevent
biofouling on the surface of Laminaria digitata by deactivation of acylated homoserine lactones (Borchardt et al.,
2001). The presence of halogen substituent is unique for
marine metabolites while it is rare for compounds obtained
from terrestrial sources (Venkateswarlu, Panchagnula,
Gottumukkala, & Subbaraju, 2007). The natural function
of these compounds in seawater is uncertain, but it is often
Please cite this article in press as: Gupta, S., & Abu-Ghannam, N., Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds, Trends in Food
Science & Technology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
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S. Gupta, N. Abu-Ghannam / Trends in Food Science & Technology xx (2011) 1e12
Fig. 3. Chemical structures of different types of phlorotannins (Heo et al., 2009; 2010).
suggested or assumed that they function as antimicrobial
compounds or grazing deterrents.
Many marine macroalgae produce oxylipins, some of
them belong to the prostaglandin and leukotriene series
and share striking similarities with the products of cyclooxygenases and lipo-oxygenases in mammals. These
oxylipins have been shown to play a role in chemical attraction and defense mechanisms. The formation of oxylipins
in L. digitata was up-regulated in sporophytes challenged
with lipopolysaccharides which may function as
pathogen-associated molecular patterns (Kupper et al.,
2006). Ritter et al. (2008) reported that copper-induced
Fig. 4. Structure of Diterpenes isolated from brown algae (Manzo et al., 2009) (a) Dictyodial; (b) Dictyol C; (c) Dicytol H.
Please cite this article in press as: Gupta, S., & Abu-Ghannam, N., Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds, Trends in Food
Science & Technology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
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stress in L. digitata encouraged the accumulation of a number of complex oxylipins, which were thought to trigger
protective mechanisms. Chemical attraction between
female and male brown algal gametes is mediated by pheromones, such as hormosirene and fucoserratene, which are
hydrocarbons, thought to be down-stream products of
a lipo-oxygenase pathway (Pohnert & Boland, 2002).
Fucoxanthin is the major biofunctional pigment present
in brown seaweeds and is one of the most abundant carotenoid found in nature. It has a molecular structure consisting of an unusual allenic bond and a 5,6-monoepoxide.
Fucoxanthin has been reported to have anti-oxidant and
anti-tumor properties. Recently, it has been claimed that
fucoxanthin can help in increasing the metabolism thereby
controlling the weight gain in animal models (Maeda,
Hosokawa, Sashima, & Miyashita, 2007). Heo, Yoon
et al. (2010) studied the anti-inflammatory effect of fucoxanthin isolated from brown algae via inhibitory effect of
nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-induced
RAW 264.7 macrophage cells.
Various methods have been used for the extraction and
release of the bioactive compounds from seaweeds of
which the use of organic solvents is most common. However, focus is now shifting to the use of green technologies
such as enzyme assisted extraction (Heo, Park, Lee, &
Jeon, 2005), sub- and super-critical fluid for the extraction
(Plaza, Cifuentes, & Iba~
nez, 2008 and references therein;
Herrero, Cifuentes, & Iba~
nez, 2006 and references therein)
of bioactive compounds.
Bioactive properties of compounds from seaweeds
Polysaccharides: anti-tumor, anti-viral, anti-coagulant
Researchers have observed the effect of polysaccharides
in biological systems as anti-coagulant, anti-tumor and
anti-inflammatory agents (Table 1) and, which has led to
the search for new compounds in the last few decades. Generally, the biological activity of polysaccharides from marine algae is related to the molecular size, type of sugar,
sulfate content, type of linkage and molecular geometry
which are known to have a role in their activities (Zhu
et al., 2004). Besides their well attested anti-coagulant
and anti-thrombotic activity, they act on the inflammation
and immune systems, have anti-proliferative and antiadhesive effect on cells, protect cells from viral infection,
and can interfere with mechanisms involved in fertilization.
Anti-tumor property
Polysaccharides have shown good immunomodulatory
properties associated with anti-tumor effects and thus
search for these compounds in gaining attention. A role
of sulfated polysaccharides from algae as anti-neoplastic
agent has been suggested. Several investigations have reported that sulfated polysaccharides have antiproliferative activity in cancer cell lines in vitro, as well
as inhibitory activity against tumors growing in mice (de
Souza, Torres et al., 2007; de Souza, Marques et al.,
2007). Increasing the number of sulfate groups in the fucoi- Q2
dan molecule has been shown to affect the anti-tumor and
anti-angiogenic activity (Koyanagi et al., 2003).
Table 1. Different algal bioactive compounds with possible effect on human health.
Bioactive
compounds
F. evanescens
Fucoidan
F. vesiculosus
Fucan
A. utricularis
Fucoidan
L. japonica
U. pinnatifida
E. cava
Eisenia arborea
I. okamurae
Laminarin
sulfated polysac.
Phlorotannin
Phlorotannin
Phlorotannin
E. cava
Phlorotannin
E. cava
Pelvetia siliquosa
Ecklonia kurome
S. vulgare
Phlorotannin
Phlorotannin
Phlorotannin
Alginic acid,
xylofucans
Diterpenes
Diterpene
Diterpene
Dictyota menstrualis
Dictyota sp.
Dictyota pfaffii
5
Specific
compound
Galactofuran
Dieckol
Phlorofucofuroeckol-B
diphlorethohydroxycarmalol
8,80 -bieckol; 8,400 0 dieckol,
6,60 -bieckol
dioxinodehydroeckol
fucosterol
phlorofucofuroeckol A
Da-1; AcDa-1
4,18-dihydroxydictyolactone
8,10,18-trihydroxy-2,6-dolabelladiene
Possible health
effect
References
Anti-tumor and
Anti-metastatic
Inhibitor of avian RT;
Antithrombin
Inhibitory against
HSV 1 and 2
Anti-apoptotic
Anti-viral
Whitening effect
Anti-allergy
Whitening effect;
Anti-diabetic
Inhibitor of HIV-1 RT
Alekseyenko et al., 2007
Anti-cancer
Anti-diabetic
Algicidal
Anti-tumor
Anti-retroviral
Cytotoxic
Inhibitory against
HSV-1; decrease
the content of
HSV-1 early proteins
Queiroz et al., 2008;
Mour~ao, 2004
Ponce et al., 2003
Kim et al., 2006
Hemmingson et al., 2006
Heo et al., 2009
Sugiura et al., 2007
Heo et al., 2009, 2010
Artan et al., 2008;
Ahn et al., 2004
Kong et al., 2009
Lee et al., 2004
Nagayama et al., 2003
de Souza, Marques et al. (2007);
de Souza, Torres et al. 2007
Pereira et al., 2004
Jongaramruong & Kongkam, 2007
Abrantes et al. (2010)
Please cite this article in press as: Gupta, S., & Abu-Ghannam, N., Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds, Trends in Food
Science & Technology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
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Dias et al. (2008) isolated a polysaccharide called as
Sarg from the brown seaweed Sargassum stenophyllum,
collected from Santa Catarina State, Brazil. The polysaccharide, Sarg, was studied for its anti-vasculogenic effects
both in vivo and in vitro assays, as well as for its capacity
to modify embryonic morphogenetic processes endogenously regulated by bFGF, a well-known angiogenic stimulator. Sarg could effectively inhibit vasculogenesis as well
as developmental angiogenesis in chick embryos and could
trigger concomitantly with vasculogenesis a specific change
in the morphogenetic pattern.
Aisa et al. (2005) reported that fucoidan from F. vesiculosus inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis in
human lymphoma HS-Sultan cell lines. They reported the
fucoidan-induced apoptosis through a mitochondrial pathway as the mitochondrial potential in HS-Sultan cells was
decreased 24 h after treatment with fucoidan.
Alekseyenko et al. (2007) studied the anti-tumor and
anti-metastatic activities of fucoidan, isolated from Fucus
evanescens present in Okhotsk sea, Russia in C57Bl/6
mice with transplanted Lewis lung adenocarcinoma. Fucoidan in a dose of 10 mg/kg and 25 mg/kg potentiated the
anti-metastatic and anti-tumor activities of cyclophosphamide, respectively.
Kim, Kim, Kim, Lee, and Lee (2006) investigated the
anti-apoptotic activity of laminaran polysaccharides isolated from the Laminaria japonica. The authors carried
out a detailed pharmacological investigation on the laminaran polysaccharides and reported that it suppressed
mouse thymocyte apoptosis and at the same time significantly induced the upregulation of 33 immunomodulatory
genes from a total of 7410 genes which were examined using a cDNA microarray.
Alginates from brown seaweeds have also been reported
to possess anti-tumor activity. de Sousa, Torres et al.
(2007); deSouza, Marques et al. (2007) investigated the
in vivo anti-tumor activity of two alginates (Sargassum vulgare high viscosity (SVHV) and S. vulgare low viscosity
(SVLV)) with different viscosity extracted from brown seaweed S. vulgare C Agardh, present in the Atlantic coast of
Brazil, against Sarcoma 180 cells transplanted in mice.
Both alginates could inhibit the growth of Sarcoma 180.
The histopathological analysis of liver and kidney showed
that both organs were affected by SVHV and SVLV treatment. However, only SVLV led to acute tubular necrosis.
Alginates caused the enlargement of the white pulp of
the spleen of treated animals, suggesting that the observed
anti-tumor activity could be related to alginates immunomodulatory properties.
Anti-viral property
The anti-viral polysaccharides should have very low cytotoxicity toward mammalian cells if it is to be used for medicinal purposes and most of the algal polysaccharides have
this attribute. Fucoidan has anti-viral properties toward viruses such as HIV and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV).
Ponce et al. (2003) reported the presence of two different
types of fucoidans, galactofuran and uronofucoidan, in
the seaweeds Adenocystis utricularis collected from the
shores near Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. The galactofuran showed a high inhibitory activity against herpes simplex virus (HSV) 1 and 2, with no cytotoxicity whereas
uronofucoidans had no anti-viral activity. The extraction
of a polysaccharides fraction from aqueous extract of Sargassum patens, collected from Hong Kong coastal waters,
has also been reported to be highly potent against HSV-1
and HSV-2 with an EC50 value as low as 25 mg/ml and
12.5 mg/ml, respectively. The polysaccharide had low levels
of cytotoxicity toward mammalian cells (Zhu, Ooi, Chan, &
Ang Jr., 2003). However, the characterization of this fraction has still not been done.
Chen, Lim, Sohn, Choi, and Han (2009) studied the
inhibitory effects of fucoidan, isolated from Undaria pinnatifida collected from north east coast of Korea, on the
growth of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in vitro and
on Plasmodium berghei-infected mice in vivo. Fucoidan
significantly inhibited the invasion of erythrocytes by P.
falciparum merozoites, and its EC50 was found to be similar
to those for the chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum 3D7
strain and the chloroquine-resistant K1 strain. Queiroz
et al. (2008) assessed the activity of fucans isolated from
F. vesiculosus (from the coast of Natal, Brazil) as inhibitors
of HIV from reverse transcriptase (RT). These fucans had
a pronounced inhibitory effect in vitro on the avian-RT at
a concentration of 0.5e1.0 mg/mL. The alginic acid
(1.0 mg/mL) inhibited the RT activity by 51.1% using activated DNA. The authors attributed the inhibitory to the fucans to the presence of sulfate groups as desulphation
resulted in the loss of this effect. Furthermore it was suggested that fucan activity was not only dependent on the
ionic changes but also on the sugar rings that act to spatially orientate the charges in a configuration that recognizes the enzyme, thus determining the specificity of the
binding (Queiroz et al., 2008). Hemmingson et al. (2006)
studied the anti-viral activity of a galactofucan sulfate extract from U. pinnatifida collected from east coast of Tasmania, Australia. It was found to be a potent inhibitor of
the herpes viruses HSV-1, HSV-2 and HCMV, with IC50
values of 1.1, 0.2 and 0.5 mg/mL, respectively.
Anti-coagulant property
Anti-coagulant property is another widely studied property of sulfated polysaccharides. Anti-coagulant activity of
sulfated polysaccharides has been identified from several
brown seaweeds such as Padina gymnospora (Silva et al.,
2005), Dictyota menstrualis (Albuquerque et al., 2004)
and F. vesiculosus (Mour~ao, 2004).
Yoon, Pyun, Hwang, and Mour~ao (2007) isolated an
acidic polysaccharide from Laminaria cichorioides collected from east coast of Korea which was shown to have
a potent anti-coagulant activity mainly mediated by thrombin inhibition by heparin cofactor II. Studies using
Please cite this article in press as: Gupta, S., & Abu-Ghannam, N., Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds, Trends in Food
Science & Technology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
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a sulfated fucan from F. vesiculosus suggested that the antithrombin activity is mediated mainly by heparin cofactor
II, with a minor contribution of antithrombin (Mour~ao,
2004).
Diterpenes
Diterpenes have been reported to have cytotoxic, antiviral and algicidal activities (Table 1). Several types of
diterpenoids, such as dolabellanes, hydroazulenoids, xenicanes and so-called extended sesquiterpenoids, have been
found to be the main secondary metabolites of the species
belonging to the Dictyotaceae family.
Anti-tumor property
Two diterpenes, 4,18-dihydroxydictyolactone 132 and
8a,11 dihydroxypachydictyol A 133, were isolated from
a Dictyota sp. collected from Bangsaen Beach, Thailand
(Jongaramruong & Kongkam, 2007). In bioassays, 4,18dihydroxydictyolactone was strongly cytotoxic (NCIH187) (Jongaramruong & Kongkam, 2007). Awad, Selim,
Metawe, and Matloub (2008) isolated 18,19-epoxyxenic19-methoxy-18-hydroxy-4-acetoxy-6,9,13-triene and 18,19epoxyxenic-18,19-dimethoxy-4-hydroxy-6,9,13-triene from
methanol extracts of Padina pavonia collected from the
Red Sea at Hurghada, Egypt. The isolated compounds
showed anti-tumor activities against lung carcinoma
(H460) and liver carcinoma (HepG2) human cell lines (in
vitro). Zubia et al. (2009) assessed the anti-oxidant and
anti-tumoral activities of crude extracts from 10 phaeophyta species from Brittany coasts. Anti-tumoral activities
were determined by a cytotoxic assay with three different
tumoral cells lines (Daudi, Jurkat and K562). Five species
exhibited strong cytotoxic activities against all tumoral
cells. The cytotoxic effect was attributed to the high level
of diterpenes compounds in the Sargassaceae species used
in the study.
Anti-viral property
Soares et al. (2007) isolated meroditerpenoids atomaric
acid, epitaondiol and the peroxylactone of 50 a-desmethyl50 -acetylatomaric acid from Brazilian seaweed Stypopodium zonale. These compounds showed strong anti-HSV-1
activity in vitro but none could inhibit the transcriptase
reverse enzyme of HIV-1. Pereira et al. (2004) studied
the effect of two diterpenes ((6R)-6-hydroxydichotoma3,14-diene-1,17-dial, named Da-1, and (6R)-6-acetoxidichotoma-3,14-diene-1,17-dial, named AcDa-1) isolated
from Brazilian seaweed, Dictyota menstrualis, on HIV-1
replication. The compounds were reported to have an affect
on an early step of the virus replicative cycle or during virus adsorption/penetration. The isolated compounds were
shown to inhibit the RNA-dependent DNA-polymerase activity of HIV-1 RT in a dose-dependent manner with an
EC50 of 40 mM and 70 mM. However, the diterpenes were
not as strong as the well-known non-nucleoside inhibitor
of the HIV-1 RT nevirapine (EC50 40 nM). Siamopoulou
7
et al. (2004) also reported anti-viral activity of diterpenes
isolated from D. dichotoma collected from the coasts of
Saronikos gulf in Athens and D. linearis from the south
coasts of Chios Island. The isolated metabolites did not
exhibit significant anti-viral activity against against Poliomyelitis virus I and HSV- 1 in concentrations lower than
their maximal non-toxic dose. Abrantes et al. (2010)
reported the inhibition of HSV-1 infection in vero cells
with diterpenes 8,10,18-trihydroxy-2,6-dolabelladiene and
(6-R)-6-hydroxydichotoma-4,14-diene-1,17-dial, isolated
from the Brazilian marine algae Dictyota pfaffii and
D. menstrualis, respectively. The compounds inhibited
HSV-1 replication in a dose-dependent manner, resulting
in EC50 values of 5.10 and 5.90 mM, respectively, for a multiplicity of infection of 5. In addition, the tested molecules
could decrease the contents of some HSV-1 early proteins,
such as UL-8, RL-1, UL-12, UL-30 and UL-9.
Phlorotannins
Phlorotannins have been clarified to exhibit anti-diabetic
(Lee, Shin, Kim, & Lee, 2004), anti-oxidation (Ahn et al.,
2007), anti-cancer (Kong, Kim, Yoon, & Kim, 2009; Yang,
Zeng, Dong, Liu, & Li, 2010), and anti-HIV (Ahn et al.,
2004) (Table 1) activities.
Anti-oxidant property
Heo, Ko et al. (2009) isolated three kinds of phlorotannins from Ecklonia cava collected from the coast of Jeju
Island, Korea and studied their inhibitory effect on melanogenesis as well as their protective effect against photooxidative stress induced by UV-B radiation. They reported
that the phlorotannin, dieckol, has potential whitening
effects and prominent protective effects on UV-B radiation-induced cell damages. Dieckol showed 88.9% tyrosinase inhibitory activity even at 50 mM, and the values
were higher than that of commercial whitening agent, kojic
acid. Heo, Ko et al. (2010) also isolated diphlorethohydroxycarmalol (DPHC) from Ishige okamurae extracts. DPHC
demonstrated strong protective properties against UV-B
radiation via damaged DNA tail length and morphological
changes in fibroblast, thus showing that the compound has
a potential whitening effect and can have potential use in
the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.
Anti-allergic property
The anti-allergic properties of several phlorotannins isolated from seaweeds have been studied on leukemia cell
lines in vitro. Sugiura et al. (2007) isolated a phlorotannin,
phlorofucofuroeckol-B, from Eisenia arborea collected
from the Mugizaki coast in Mie prefecture, Japan. The
compound was reported to have anti-allergic properties.
The isolation was guided by the inhibitory effect of the collected fractions from the extract on histamine release (IC50
7.8 mM) from rat basophile leukemia (RBL-2H3) cells in
a concentration-dependent manner. Le, Li, Qian, Kim,
and Kim (2009) isolated two main bioactive phlorotannin
Please cite this article in press as: Gupta, S., & Abu-Ghannam, N., Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds, Trends in Food
Science & Technology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
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derivatives together with phloroglucinol and dieckol having
anti-allergy activity from crude extracts of Korean seaweed
Ecklonia cava. The anti-allergic activity of these derivatives
was assessed by histamine release assay on human basophilic leukemia (KU812) and rat basophilic leukemia
(RBL-2H3) cultured cell lines, respectively. Strong inhibitory effect was shown by dieckol and one phlorotannin
derivative.
Anti-diabetic property
In vivo testing of fucosterol in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, isolated from the brown alga Pelvetia siliquosa,
demonstrated that it is the main anti-diabetic principle (Lee
et al., 2004). Fucosterol caused a significant decrease in serum glucose concentrations, and exhibited an inhibition of
sorbitol accumulations in the lenses of rats (Lee et al.,
2004). Heo, Hwang et al. (2009) reported that diphlorethohydroxycarmalol (DPHC) isolated from I. okamurae collected along the Coast of Jeju Island, Korea might be
a potent inhibitor of a-glucosidase and a-amylase. The
IC50 values of DPHC against a-glucosidase and a-amylase
were 0.16 and 0.53 mM, respectively, which evidenced the
higher activities than that of acarbose. Moreover, DPHC
did not seem to exert any cytotoxic effect in human umbilical vein endothelial cells at various concentrations (from
0.49 to 3.91 mM). At the same time, the increase of postprandial blood glucose levels were significantly suppressed
in the DPHC-administered group than those in the
streptozotocin-induced diabetic or normal mice.
Anti-viral property
Tannins have been reported to show their HIV-1 inhibitory mode of action by inhibiting polymerase and ribonuclease activities of HIV-1 RT (Artan et al., 2008). Ahn
et al. (2004) isolated four phlorotannin derivatives, eckol
(1), 8,80 -bieckol (2), 8,4000 dieckol (3), and phlorofucofuroeckol A (4) from E. cava. Among these, compounds
2 (IC50, 0.51 mM) and 3 (IC50, 5.3 mM) exhibited an inhibitory effect on HIV-1 RT. Both these compounds were able
to inhibit the protease as well but RT was inhibited more
potently than the protease. Another phlorotannin 6,60 bieckol was isolated from E. cava and studied for its antiviral properties (Artan et al., 2008). The compound showed
wild inhibition against HIV-1 induced syncytia formation
(EC50 1.72 mM), lytic effects (EC50 1.23 mM), and viral
p24 antigen production (EC50 1.26 mM), respectively in addition to inhibiting the activity of HIV-1 RT enzyme with
EC50 of 1.07 mM, as well as HIV-1 entry.
Anti-tumor property
Kong et al. (2009) isolated phloroglucinol derivatives,
dioxinodehydroeckol (1) and 1-(30 ,50 -dihydroxyphenoxy)7-(200 ,400 ,6-trihydroxyphenoxy)-2,4,9-trihydroxydibenzo-1,
4-dioxin (2), from E. cava and checked their ability to
inhibit the proliferation of human breast cancer cells. Compound 1 exerted a higher anti-proliferative activity in
human breast cancer cells, induced a significant proliferative inhibition and apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner
on MCF-7 human cancer cells and also induced the increase in caspase (3 and 9) activity. Yang et al.
(2010) studied the anti-proliferative activity of phlorotannins derived from brown algae L. japonica Aresch extracts
collected from Quingdao, China on the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell (BEL-7402) and on murine leukemic
cells (P388) by MTT assay. The inhibitory rate of phlorotannin extract on BEL-7402 and P388 cells was
30.20 1.16% and 43.44 1.86%, respectively, and
IC50 on P388 and BEL-7402 cells was 120 mg/mL and
>200 mg/mL, respectively.
Antibacterial and algicidal property
In addition, bactericidal (Nagayama, Iwamura, Shibata,
Hirayama, & Nakamura, 2002) and algicidal activity
(Nagayama, Shibata, Fujimoto, Honjo, & Nakamura,
2003; Wang, Xiao, Wang, Zhou, & Tang, 2007) of phlorotannins has also been reported. Nagayama et al. (2003)
reported phlorofucofuroeckol A, to have algicidal activity
as strong as that of epigallocatechin gallate. Nagayama
et al. (2002) found the bactericidal effect of the phlorotannins to be more pronounced than those of the catechins
which was used as positive control. Wang, Xu, Bach, and
MacAllister (2009) reported the bactericidal effects of
phlorotannins isolated from Ascophyllum nodosum collected from Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia, Canada
against E. coli O157:H7. The marine phlorotannis were
reported to be superior in activity as compared to terrestrial
phlorotannins.
While all these studies show substantial evidence to suggest that seaweed phytochemicals have the potential to be
used as nutraceuticals or in pharmaceutical industry, to
date not much progress has been made on in vivo activity
of these compounds isolated from seaweeds.
Health benefit due to consumption of seaweed dietary
fibers
Being rich in polysaccharides which are not digested by
intestinal enzymes makes seaweeds an important source of
dietary fibers and can be considered as a source of prebiotics. A prebiotic is a compound which must be resistant
to digestion in the upper GIT and therefore resistant to
acid and enzymatic hydrolysis; must be a selective substrate for the growth of beneficial bacteria and finally, it
must induce luminal or systemic effects that are beneficial
to host health. These dietary fibers differ chemically and
physico-chemically from that of the terrestrial species and
may induce different fermentative patterns. The content
of total dietary fiber in seaweeds ranges from 33 to 50 g/
100 g d.w. (Ruperez & Saura-Calixto, 2001). Accordingly,
the fiber content of seaweed varieties is higher than those
found in most fruits and vegetables. The human consumption of algal fiber has been proven to be health-promoting
and its benefits are well documented in the scientific
Please cite this article in press as: Gupta, S., & Abu-Ghannam, N., Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds, Trends in Food
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literature. The consumption of this dietary fiber has been
related to the following health-promoting effects: (1) promotes the growth and protection of the beneficial intestinal
flora, (2) reduces the overall glycemic response, (3) greatly
increases stool volume and (4) reduces the risk of colon
cancer. In addition to the presence of some of the components which have potential benefits for the human body,
the presence of dietary fibers provides some technological
advantages for the use of marine algae as ingredients in
food products such as meat products. The presence of these
prebiotics can also be used to support the growth of lactic
acid bacteria using seaweed broth as a sole source of nutrition (Gupta, Abu-Ghannam, & Scannell, 2010b) and subsequently probiotics that can benefit human health. Thus,
seaweeds have the potential to be used as a functional
food ingredient or as a nutraceutical.
The capacity of the fibers to absorb and retain water
(Ruperez & Saura-Calixto, 2001) helps in the utilization
of seaweeds as texturing and bulking agents, particularly
in the making of low calorie foods. At the same time, the
high concentration of mineral elements in seaweeds can
help to reduce the amount of added sodium chloride in
meat processing. L
opez-L
opez et al. (2009) studied the
influence of the addition of edible seaweeds Himanthalia
elongata, U. pinnatifida and Porphyra umbilicalis collected
from the Atlantic coast, on fatty acid composition, amino
acid profile, protein score, mineral content and antioxidant capacity in low-salt meat emulsion model systems.
Meat systems made with added seaweeds had lower
(P < 0.05) sodium contents than control samples. The inclusion of H. elongata increased the sulfur amino acid score
by 20%. The added seaweeds supplied the meat samples
with soluble polyphenolic compounds, which increased
the anti-oxidant capacity of the systems.
The prebiotic effect of seaweed polysaccharide was
shown by its ability to resist digestion in the upper GIT
in a study conducted by Deville, Damas, Forget,
Dandrifosse, and Peulen (2004). They reported that laminarin remained intact following incubation in vitro with
hydrochloric acid, human saliva and human gastric, pancreatic, small intestinal and colonic homogenates. Feeding trials have also been performed in laboratory animals to
investigate the effects on animal health and growth performance. Guidel-Urbano and Go~
ni (2002) studied the influence of feeding two edible seaweeds, Porphyra and
Undaria purchased from a local health store in Madrid,
Spain, as a source of dietary fiber on dietary nutritive utilization in male adult Wistar rats. The addition of seaweed
did not affect the gain in body weight of rats or food efficiency but the fresh and dry stool weights were higher in
rats fed seaweeds than in the control group. Seaweed-fed
animals showed significantly lower apparent digestibilities
of protein and fat but absorbed nitrogen was more effectively used by animals. Evidence is also available on the
prebiotic effect of seaweed polysaccharide on animal
health. Kuda, Yano, Matsuda, and Nishizawa (2005)
9
reported that dietary supplementation with 1% laminarin
resulted in an increase in Bifidobacterium counts in the
cecum of rats compared to a control diet, but there was
no significant difference in Lactobacillus counts. Wang,
Han, Hu, Li, and Yu (2006) reported a selective increase
in the numbers of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in
both the cecum and faeces of rats which were fed diets supplemented with 2.5% alginate. The prebiotic effect was
found to be greater than the control group which was fed
on a diet containing prebiotic fructo-oligosaccharide.
Deville, Gharbi, Dandrifosse, and Peulen (2007) noted
that laminarin can influence the adherence and the translocation of bacteria across the epithelial wall and seems to be
a modulator of the intestinal metabolism by its effects on
mucus composition, intestinal pH and short-chain fatty
acid production, especially butyrate. Neyrinck et al.
(2007) demonstrated that dietary supplementation with
laminarin protected against lipopolysaccharide-induced
liver toxicity in a rodent model of systemic inflammation.
They suggested that the immunomodulatory effects of dietary laminarin could be either due to a direct effect of laminarin on immune cells or due to an indirect effect via
modulation of the intestinal microbiota. Maeda et al.
(2007) studied the anti-diabetic and anti-obedisty effect of
dietary fucoxanthin and fish oil. They reported that dietary
fucoxanthin decreases the blood glucose and plasma insulin
concentration of KK-Ay along with down-regulating tumor
necrosis factor-a mRNA. Reports are also available on the
effect of feeding of farm animals with whole seaweeds or
seaweed polysaccharide. Lynch, Sweeney, Callan,
O’Sullivan, and O’Doherty (2010) showed the prebiotic
effect of feeding pigs with laminaran and fuciodan on interstinal fermentation and selected microflora. Feeding resulted in a reduction in intestinal Enterobacteria and an
increase in Lactobacilli sp thus suggesting that feeding of
seaweeds can act as a dietary means to improve gut health
in pigs. Reilly et al. (2008) demonstrated the effect of dietary supplementation with extracts containing laminarin
and fucoidan from different varieties of brown seaweeds,
L. digitata and Laminaria hyperborea collected from Kerry,
Ireland on gut morphology and intestinal microbial populations in pigs. The inclusion resulted in an inhibitory effect
on the Enterobacteria, Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria population within the caecum and colon of weaned pigs.
O’Doherty, McDonnell, and Figat (2010) showed that feeding laminarin resulted in the reduction in faecal E. coli population and an increase in daily gain and gain to feed ratio
to improve gut health in post weaning pigs. However,
a combination of laminarin and fucoidan was reported to
be more effective at reducing diarrhea post weaning.
Dillon, Sweeney, Callan, and O’Doherty (2010) have also
reported that the inclusion of a combination of laminarin
and fucoidan extract derived from L. digitata, increased
daily gain and gain to feed ratio of post weaned piglets.
According to the authors this was mainly due to an increase
in nutrient digestibility and decreased E. coli populations in
Please cite this article in press as: Gupta, S., & Abu-Ghannam, N., Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds, Trends in Food
Science & Technology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
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S. Gupta, N. Abu-Ghannam / Trends in Food Science & Technology xx (2011) 1e12
the guts. Dierick, Ovyn, and De Smet (2010) studied the effect of feeding intact A. nodosum collected from Ireland on
the piglet gut flora (E. coli, lactobacilli, streptococci, total
anaerobic count) and their metabolism. In vitro investigations, simulating in vivo conditions, revealed a statistically
significant depressive effect of seaweed on piglet small intestinal and hindgut flora, especially on E. coli. Also the
fermentative activity (lactic acid, volatile fatty acids) of
the flora was lowered.
Conclusions
Seaweeds grow in abundance in coastal areas and are
available all year round. This review attempted to examine
the reports available on the compounds being isolated from
seaweeds that may have anti-cancer, anti-tumor or antiviral activity. Many reports have been published about isolated compounds from algae with biological activity, demonstrating their ability to produce metabolites however a lot
of research is needed before this vast untapped resource
could be utilized for beneficial purposes. Thus, the investigation of new algal chemical compounds, a different source
of natural products, can prove to be a promising area of
pharmaceutical study. Moreover, substantial amount of research regarding the toxicity aspects also needs to be carried out before they could actually be used for clinical
trials. The information available on the prebiotic potential
of seaweeds being fed to farm animals seems promising.
However, the results from different studies are conflicting
and more studies are needed in order to reach a consensus
regarding their beneficial dietary effect. At the same time,
they may also be a source of compounds which could be
exploited for novel functional ingredients for human and
animal health applications. Future work in the area of
seaweed-derived bioactives should aim to examine the
effects of purified compounds under in vivo conditions to
understand their actual potential.
Uncited reference
Dharmananda.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to acknowledge funding from the
Irish Government under the Technological Sector Research
Scheme (Strand III) of the National Development Plan.
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Please cite this article in press as: Gupta, S., & Abu-Ghannam, N., Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds, Trends in Food
Science & Technology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2011.03.011
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