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Antioxidant activity of mycosporine-like amino acids isolated from three red macroalgae and one marine lichen

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Abstract

Several standard in vitro assays were performed in order to determine the potential antioxidant capabilities of purified aqueous extracts of the mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), porphyra-334 plus shinorine (P-334 + SH), isolated from the red alga Porphyra rosengurttii, asterina-330 plus palythine (AS-330 + PNE), from the red alga Gelidium corneum, shinorine (SH), from the red alga Ahnfeltiopsis devoniensis, and mycosporine -glycine (M-Gly), isolated from the marine lichen Lichina pygmaea. The scavenging potential of hydrosoluble radicals (ABTS+ decolorization method), the antioxidant activity in lipid medium (β-carotene/ linoleate bleaching method) and the scavenging capacity of superoxide radicals (pyrogallol autooxidation assay) were evaluated. In terms of scavenging of hydrosoluble radicals, the antioxidant activity of all MAAs studied was dose-dependent and it increased with the alkalinity of the medium (pH 6 to 8.5). M-Gly presented the highest activity in all pH tested; at pH 8.5 its IC50 was 8-fold that of L-ascorbic acid (L-ASC) followed by AS-330 + PNE while P-334 + SH and SH showed scarce activity of scavenging of hydrosoluble free radicals. AS-330 + PNE showed high activity for inhibition of β-carotene oxidation relative to vitamin E and superoxide radical scavenging whilst the activity of P-334 +SH and SH were moderate. According to these results, the potential of MAAs in photoprotection can be considered high due to a double function: (1) UV chemical screening with high efficiency for UVB and UVA regions of the solar spectrum, and (2) their antioxidant capacity.

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank Prof. Rafael Suau Suárez (Dep. of Organic Chemistry, University of Málaga) for his crucial participation in the antioxidant characterization of MAAs. Financial support was provided by the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain (AGL 2005–02655) and Junta de Andalucía (RNM-295).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus Universitario de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    F. de la Coba & F. L. Figueroa

  2. Departamento de Medicina y Dermatología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Málaga, Campus Universitario de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    J. Aguilera, M. V. de Gálvez & E. Herrera

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  1. F. de la Coba
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  2. J. Aguilera
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  3. F. L. Figueroa
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  4. M. V. de Gálvez
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  5. E. Herrera
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Correspondence to F. de la Coba.

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de la Coba, F., Aguilera, J., Figueroa, F.L. et al. Antioxidant activity of mycosporine-like amino acids isolated from three red macroalgae and one marine lichen. J Appl Phycol 21, 161–169 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-008-9345-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-008-9345-1

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