Planta Med 2013; 79 - PI101
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1352190

Secondary metabolites of marine algae Entermorpha prolifera

C Si 1, X Ren 2, H Hu 2, G Yu 2, L Wu 2
  • 1a: Tianjin Key Lab of Pulp & Paper, Tianjin University of Science &Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; b: Tianjin Key Lab of Marine Resources & Chemistry, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
  • 2Tianjin Key Lab of Pulp & Paper, College of Materials Science & Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University of Science &Technology, Tianjin 300457, China

Marine plants have attracted increasing attention in the search for natural compounds to develop new medicinal and functional food ingredients. Enteromorpha prolifera (Ulvaleae), a large green algae, has been reported to exhibit significant antioxidant, antiinflammatory and antitumor activity. In addition Enteromorpha species have been used as pharmaceutical product and healthcare food for millennia in Asian countries [1]. In recent years E. prolifera has been frequently involved in terrible algal proliferation in China's Qingdao coastal areas. High quantity of E. prolifera wrack accumulated along shorelines and on the beaches produced smelly odors and arose environmental issues concerning [2]. Therefore, our current work was carried out to investigate the chemical constituents of this environmental pollutant green seaweed for the achievement of potential high-value-added products. E. prolifera was harvested, air-dried and extracted with 95% EtOH. Then the extracts were successively partitioned with polar solvents and freeze dried. Repeated column chromatography on a portion of ethylacetate soluble powders guided by TLC resulted in the purification of four secondary metabolites from E. prolifera, and their structures were elucidated as pheophorbide A (I), cholesterol (II), carotenoid (III) and pheophytin A (IV), based on extensive spectroscopic techniques such as 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectrometry. This was the first time to isolate III and IV from E. prolifera.

References:

[1]. Yasuji O. et al. (1997) Int J Immunopharmac 19: 355 – 388.

[2]. Liu F. et al. (2013) Mar Environ Res 83: 38 – 47.

Acknowledgements: This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170541, 31000279), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-10 – 0951), Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City (No. 13JCZDJC), and Foundation (201204) of Tianjin Key Lab of Marine Resources & Chemistry, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, China.