Evaluation of sea mustard (Undaria pinnatifida) sporophylls from South Korea as fucoidan source and its corresponding antioxidant activities

Sporophylls from sea mustard, Undaria pinnatifida , which are by-products in seaweed production industries, were taken from Hansan Island, Tongyeong, and Gijang, Busan, and investigated for their fucoidan content and corresponding antioxidant activities. The extracted fucoidan yield from sporophylls of sea mustard samples from Tongyeong (TF) and Gijang (GF) were 12.1% and 13.6%, respectively. The antioxidant activities assessment of TF and GF extracts showed relative significant difference between samples, suggesting effect of location on bioactivities of fucoidan samples. GF was 50–68% more effective than TF against DPPH and superoxide radicals samples which may be attributed to the difference in their degree of sulfation and monosaccharide composition. Meanwhile, TF exhibited greater scavenging activity against hydroxyl radicals compared to GF which could be due to protein impurities.