Review articleEffects of algae subtype and extraction condition on extracted fucoxanthin antioxidant property: A 20-year meta-analysis
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Algal biotechnology has attracted increasing attention due to their simultaneous environmental benefits and production of biomass with high-valued byproducts such as pigment (e.g. lutein, astaxanthin, β-carotene, fucoxanthin) [[1], [2], [3], [4]]. Among them, fucoxanthin accounts for more than 10% (w/w) of the total carotenoid production in nature [5]. Fucoxanthin was demonstrated as a bioactive component with notable medicinal and nutritional values such as the antioxidant property [[6], [7], [8]], having potential functions in neutralizing harmful reactive free radicals in cells and preventing cancer and heart diseases [9].
The antioxidant property of algal fucoxanthin has been reported in many algal species, including microalgae (C. calcitrans, Isochrysis galbana, Skeletonema costatum, Odontella sinensis, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, etc.) and macroalgae (S. japonica, Sargassum ilicifolium, P. comosa, Padina sp., H. banksii, S. podocanthum, Himanthalia elongate, etc.) [[10], [11], [12], [13]]. However, it remains vague whether the algae subtypes (i.e., macro- and micro-algae) influenced the fucoxanthin antioxidant property. To the best of the authors' knowledge, only one study compared the antioxidant property of the methanol-extracted crude mixtures (but not the purely extracted fucoxanthin) from both macroalgae and microalgae [14], but it lacks direct comparisons on the fucoxanthin from different algae subtypes. On the other hand, fucoxanthin production from microalgae and macroalgae each have pros and cons. For example, macroalgal growth is slow and seasonal-dependent relying on the climate conditions; macroalgal fucoxanthin contents are low, with a risk of iodism during extraction process; macroalgae are easy to be harvested due to large size [[15], [16], [17], [18]]. Comparatively, microalgae contain 50–98% higher fucoxanthin contents and have faster growth rates, but their harvesting present technological challenges [[19], [20], [21], [22]]. Therefore, it is important to figure out the fucoxanthin antioxidant property responding to algae subtypes, in order to appropriately select a proper algae subtype for algal fucoxanthin extraction.
It was reported that the algal fucoxanthin extraction and purification efficiency significantly relied on the extraction process [23,24]. However, it remains unclear whether variations on extraction conditions also present a remarkable impact on the algal fucoxanthin antioxidant property. Previous studies demonstrated that the free radical scavenging activity of mangosteen peel and algal astaxanthin varied with the extraction solvents employed [25,26], suggesting that the antioxidant property of the algal extracts depends on the extraction process. Moreover, various conditions for algal fucoxanthin extraction have been applied, generally including the extraction solvents (e.g. ethanol, methanol, acetone, hexane, chloroform), extraction time (minutes to days), extraction temperature (room temperature to 100 °C), pressure (normal pressure or pressurized method such as 2500 psi and 10.5 MPa), and illumination (normal illumination or dark) [13,[27], [28], [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], [35]]. These varying extraction conditions resulted in different fucoxanthin extraction efficiencies, but little information has been found regarding their impacts on the antioxidant property of the extracted fucoxanthin. As some of the extraction processes are costly, this investigation on algal fucoxanthin antioxidant property deserves attention considering both its health benefits and the economic feasibility.
Moreover, there are debates about the relationship between the antioxidant property of the extracted fucoxanthin and its concentration. Multiple studies have reported that the antioxidant property was in a concentration-dependent manner. For example, the DPPH scavenging activity presented an evident positive relationship with fucoxanthin concentration (the correlation coefficient of 0.81 (r2) for brown seaweed Nizamuddinia zanardinii and 0.91 (r2) for Cystoseira indica) [30]. A similar positive concentration-dependent manner of DPPH scavenging activity with extracted fucoxanthin was observed in Himanthalia elongate, with an EC50 of 12.9 ± 1.04 μg/mL [36]. However, another study found that the most pronounced fucoxanthin antioxidant effect was observed at 5 μM compared with 1 and 10 μM [37], challenging the proposed positive correlation. Accordingly, the above discrepancy proposes a question whether the antioxidant property of extracted fucoxanthin is in a concentration-dependent manner and it requires further evidence.
Considering the multitudinous algae subtypes and extraction conditions noted above, it would be difficult to solve all of these doubtful points only by single experimental designs. Meta-analysis is a quantitative statistical model which is applied for reviews based on independent studies covering the same topic, and eventually a conclusion could be drawn accordingly. To this end, meta-analysis was performed in this study for literature review to identify the effects of algae subtypes and extraction conditions on the quality of fucoxanthin, reflected as antioxidant property, as well as the relationship between fucoxanthin concentration and antioxidant property.
Section snippets
Data collection
A comprehensive literature search without limits on language was conducted via Google Scholar, Elsevier Science Direct, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Internet for the articles published from January 2000 to July 2020. The keywords of “algae”, “antioxidant”, “fucoxanthin” and “DPPH” were entered together for searching the whole context in articles, which collected approximately 794 sources.
The main purpose of the analysis was to investigate the effect of algae subtypes and
Results and discussion
Several factors have been investigated in affecting the algae antioxidant property, such as drying temperature and heating process [11,43]. However, the factors which might show impacts on the fucoxanthin antioxidant property have less been explored. As the algae subtypes and extraction conditions might lead to variations on fucoxanthin yield [23,24], it is of interest to investigate their impacts on the fucoxanthin antioxidant property. DPPH scavenging assay has been widely applied for
Conclusions
By reviewing available literature before July 2020, this meta-analysis showed that algae subtypes and extraction conditions (including extraction solvents, time, pressure and illumination conditions) had no statistically significant effects on the antioxidant property of the extracted-fucoxanthin, except for the extraction temperature. Also, the fucoxanthin antioxidant property, evaluated by the DPPH scavenging activity, was positively correlated with fucoxanthin concentrations. Reporting these
CRediT authorship contribution statement
S.Q., Y.S., Z.W., and X.Z. conceived, designed and performed the analysis. S.G. verified the analytical methods. S.Q., Y.S., and Z.W. wrote the paper. S.G. provided critical revision of the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of National Natural Science Foundation of China (52000103 and 51708294), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20190022, BK20180497, and BK20181303), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M671402), Six Talent Peaks Project in Jiangsu Province (JY-075), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (30920021117). Dr. Shuang Qiu would like to thank the support of the Innovative and Entrepreneurial Doctor Project of
Statement of informed consent, human/animal right
No conflicts, informed consent, human or animal rights are applicable to this study.
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