Fucoxanthin is a xanthophyll, with formula C42H58O6. It is found as an accessory pigment in the of brown algae and most other , giving them a brown or olive-green color. Fucoxanthin absorbs light primarily in the blue-green to yellow-green part of the visible spectrum, peaking at around 510–525 nanometer and absorbing significantly in the range of 450 to 540 nm.
Function
are pigments produced by plants and algae and play a role in light harvesting as part of the
photosynthesis process. Xanthophylls are a subset of carotenoids, identified by the fact that they are oxygenated either as hydroxyl groups or as epoxide bridges. This makes them more water soluble than carotenes such as beta-carotene. Fucoxanthin is a xanthophyll that contributes more than 10% of the estimated total production of carotenoids in nature.
It is an accessory pigment found in the chloroplasts of many
brown macroalgae, such as
Fucus , and the golden-brown unicellular microalgae, the
. It absorbs blue and green light at bandwidth 450–540 nm, imparting a brownish-olive color to algae.
Fucoxanthin has a highly unique structure that contains both an epoxide bond and hydroxyl groups along with an
allenes bond (two adjacent carbon-carbon double bonds) and a conjugated carbonyl group (carbon-oxygen double bond) in the polyene chain. All of these features provide fucoxanthin with powerful antioxidant activity.
In macroalgal plastids, fucoxanthin acts like an antenna pigment for light harvesting and energy transfer in the photosystem light harvesting complexes.
Sources
Fucoxanthin is present in
and
and was first isolated from
Fucus,
Dictyota, and
Laminaria by Willstätter and Page in 1914.
Seaweeds are commonly consumed in south-east Asia and certain countries in Europe, while diatoms are single-cell planktonic microalgae characterized by a golden-brown color, due to their high content of fucoxanthin. Generally, diatoms contain up to four times more fucoxanthin than seaweed, making diatoms a viable source for fucoxanthin industrially.
Diatoms can be grown in controlled environments (such as
).
Bioavailability
Limited studies of fucoxanthin in humans indicate low
bioavailability.
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See also
