Sustainable isolation and improved structural characterization of mycosporin-like amino acids: natural UV-filters from red algae
Résumé
Mycosporin-like amino acids (MAAs) are low-molecular-weight, colorless and water-soluble compounds produced by a wide variety of marine organisms including corals, fungi, algae and cyanobacteria (Geraldes and Pinto, 2021). They are recognized as a potential source of natural
sunscreens due to their capacity to absorb a very large proportion of UV rays. MAAs are also characterized by other biological activities such as antioxidant, anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties (Rosic, 2021) (Fonsesca et al., 2023). MAAs are thus of growing interest for their capacity to replace controversial photoprotective agents in sunscreen products. Nevertheless, their enrichment or isolation remain a challenge in cosmetic industry. This presentation will cover the development of a sustainable purification strategy of MAAs that can be easily transposed to an industrial scale. In this context, centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) using aqueous two-phase system was particularly adapted to isolate
MAAs (Michel et al. 2023). The developed method allowed to obtain pure compounds and enriched fraction from a Porphyra sp. crude extract. Structure elucidation employing extensive NMR spectroscopy and HRMS allowed the identification of MAAs such as Porphyra-334.
This work provides a new approach, easily scalable, to produce enriched cosmetical ingredients or to purify MAAs that can be used in diverse formulation to enhance the efficacy of natural sunscreens.