抄録
Unique phenolic compounds derived from seaweeds collected around Hokkaido were reviewed from the viewpoint of structural and functional diversity. Bromophenols are brominated polyphenols. The bromophenols derived from Rhodomelaceae algae consist of a brominated 2,3-dihydroxybenzyl unit as a monomeric unit. They exist in the seaweeds as monomers or oligomers of the unit. The tribrominated monomer exhibited higher inhibitory activity against α-d-glucosidase than the monobrominated and dibrominated monomers that were examined. The symmetric dimers exhibited potent inhibitory activity against α-d-glucosidase, tyrosinase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase among the asymmetric oligomers examined. Thus, bromophenols are possible potent inhibitors of some enzymes. Phloroglucinol oligomers are obtained from brown seaweeds. But most of them are highly polymerized to be phlorotannins. Colpomenia bullosa contains phloroglucinol monomer, dimer, and trimers. The trimers, fucophlorethol C and triphlorethol C, exhibited potent tyrosinase and lipoxygenase inhibition. Inhibitory activity of triphlorethol C, a symmetric trimer, is higher than fucophlorethol C, an asymmetric one. This review focused only on seaweed-derived unique phenolic compounds. But many other unique compounds can be isolated from marine origins. The research to discover novel compounds and their functions from seaweeds remains important.
