Chemical profiling of complex biochemical mixtures from various seaweeds

Development of an approach to describing and comparing complex biochemical mixtures presented by natural biomacromolecular sources is a promising new field in polymer science. The generation of a comprehensive strategy for evaluating and characterizing natural biomass mixtures presents a significant challenge. Here, we describe a chemical profiling methodology for seaweed biomass based on the comprehensive characterization of water-soluble, water-insoluble and solid-state components. An extraction method was developed for the nuclear magnetic resonance measurement of the water-insoluble seaweed components by modifying and optimizing physical pretreatments and extraction processes. Evaluating the compositional variations in various seaweeds from biomass profiles by principal component analysis score plots showed that the species clustered according to their taxonomic group differences. In addition, this profiling strategy revealed that it was possible to annotate the primary components that are characteristic of each taxonomic group, such as mannitol and laminaran in brown algae, D-galactose and agar in red algae, and xylopyranose and glucopyranose in green algae. Therefore, this profiling strategy was capable of discerning and evaluating individual characteristics among these seaweeds. Polymer Journal (2012) 44, 888–894; doi:10.1038/pj.2012.105; published online 13 June 2012