Abstract:

Hot water extraction followed by ethanol precipitation was used for production of fucoidan from Laminaria japonica in this study. To maximize fucoidan yield, the optimal values of crucial parameters of hot water extraction, including extraction temperature and time and material/liquid ratio were determined by single factor and orthogonal array methods to be 70 ℃, 6 h and 1:40, respectively. Under the above conditions, the maximum yield of fucoidan with 96.9% purity was up to 4.99%. Laminaria japonica fucoidan had strong antioxidant performance in vitro, which was reflected by hydroxyl and superoxide anion free radical scavenging activities, reducing power and nitrite scavenging activity under simulated gastric environment, and its antioxidant performance in vitro exhibited a gradual increase with its increasing concentration.

Key words: fucoidan, Laminaria japonica, extraction, antioxidant