Profiling of Volatile Organic Compounds, Including Halogenated Substances, in Okinawan Red Alga Portieria hornemannii

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 30; no. 12; p. 2534
• Main Authors: Tani, Kazuki, Sasaki, Yu, Ishii, Takahiro, Asikin, Yonathan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10.06.2025; MDPI
• Subjects: Aldehydes; Algae; Analysis; Chromatography; Dietary minerals; extraction temperature; Food; Furans; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; halogenated compounds; Hydrocarbons; Japan; Mass spectrometry; Metabolites; Natural resources; Odorants - analysis; Plant metabolites; Portieria hornemannii; Rhodophyta - chemistry; Seaweed - chemistry; Solid Phase Microextraction; solid-liquid extraction; Temperature; Underwater resources; United States; VOCs; Volatile organic compounds; Volatile Organic Compounds - analysis; Volatile Organic Compounds - chemistry; Volatile Organic Compounds - isolation & purification; Japan; United States; solid-liquid extraction; extraction temperature; volatile organic compounds; Portieria hornemannii; halogenated compounds
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules30122534

The exploitation of underutilised resources is critical for achieving a sustainable society, and non-edible seaweeds are promising candidates. This study focused on the red alga Portieria hornemannii from Okinawa, Japan, a seaweed with a distinctive aroma, and determined its volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and halogenated secondary metabolites using headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) at various extraction temperatures. HS-SPME-GC-MS analysis revealed 52 VOCs in Okinawan P. hornemannii, including predominant compounds α-pinenyl bromide (IUPAC name: 2-bromomethyl-6,6-dimethylbicyclo [3.1.1]hept-2-ene; halogenated monoterpene), myrcene disulfide (3-(6-methyl-2-methylidenehept-5-enylidene)dithiirane), and 5,6-dimethyl-1H-benzimidazole, the content of which in the extract increased with increasing extraction temperature from 30 to 60 °C. On the other hand, the β-myrcene (7-methyl-3-methyleneocta-1,6-diene) content, which likely contributes majorly to the distinct fresh odour of the algae, declined as the temperature increased. Furthermore, the proportion of β-myrcene obtained using SPME was significantly higher than that extracted using solvent liquid extraction (SLE) (7.20% in SPME at 30 °C vs. 0.09%, respectively). However, SLE-GC-MS provided a different P. hornemannii volatile profile, allowing for the acquisition of more furan-, alcohol-, ester-, and carboxylic acid-containing compounds. These data provide valuable information, such as a systematic analytical framework for volatiles profiling in the marine macroalgae P. hornemannii, with potential applicability in the development of food and fragrance products.