Avaliação sazonal de carotenóides provitamina A (α– e β– caroteno) e vitamina E (α–tocoferol) em macroalgas marinhas pertencentes a família Caulerpacea (Divisão Chlorophyta)

• Autor(a) principal: Pires, Kelma Maria dos Santos
• Data de Publicação: 2007
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)
• Texto Completo: http://www.repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/18443
• topic: Engenharia de pesca; Carotenoides; Provitamina; Macroalgas marinhas; Carotenoids; Provitamin; Marine macroalgae; Alga marinha; Clorófitas

Marine macroalgae are sources of a great variety of beneficial compounds such as minerals, dietary fibers and vitamins. The aim of this work was to verify seasonal variation upon both provitamin A carotenoids (α- and β-carotene) and vitamin E (α-tocopherol) contents in five species of the marine green macroalga Caulerpa both fresh and oven-dried at 40°C for 15 h. The contents in dried algae were compared to those in fresh algae to evaluate the losses after drying. Algal material was collected monthly from January to December 2006, in Pacheco Beach, Caucaia, Ceará. Analyses of α- and β-carotene and α-tocopherol were carried out in extracts 1:10 (p/v) for fresh alga and 1:20 (p/v) for dried alga using aqueous methanol (90:10, v/v). They were saponified with 5% KOH and partitioned into n-hexane, which was then evaporated. The residues were suspended in 1 mL methanol prior to HPLC analyses. Aliquots of 100 μL were injected in a HPLC system consisting of a Waters Spherisorb-Hichrom S5 ODS-2 column (4.6 x 250 mm) and a mobile phase of methanol:tetrahydrofurane (90:10, v/v), delivered at 1.5 mL min-1. The detector was set at 450 nm for α- and β-carotene and 290 nm for α-tocopherol. Chromatograms were registered at UnicornTM version 5.0. All samples showed α- and β-carotene and α-tocopherol, but their distribution along the year was variable. In general, the contents of α-carotene were greater than those of β-carotene. The losses of α- and β-carotene varied between 10% and 94%. In order to be considered an excellent source of vitamin A, the daily consumption would be 52 g to 689 g of fresh alga or 42 g to 469 g of dried alga. α-Tocopherol was detected in all samples except in dried C. racemosa collected in March. Similar to the distribution of α- and β-carotene along the year, α-tocopherol contents varied too. Losses varied from 22% to 91%. Daily portions to supply 50% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) would be 11 g to 168 g of fresh alga or 13 g to 70 g of dried alga. Amounts of vitamin A (retinol equivalents) and vitamin E (tocopherol equivalents) in all algae analyzed were not very different from most vegetables normally consumed