Hijikia fusiformis seaweed
February 1 2017
Hijikia fusiformis is a Japanese edible seaweed that contains fucoxanthin.
Fucoxanthin and its metabolite, fucoxanthinol, suppress
adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells.
Int J Mol Med. 2006; Maeda H, Hosokawa M, Sashima T, Takahashi N, Miyashita K. Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, Hakodate,
Hokkaido 041-8611, Japan.
Fucoxanthin is a major carotenoid found in edible seaweed such as Undaria
pinnatifida and Hijikia fusiformis. We investigated the suppressive effects of
fucoxanthin and its metabolite, fucoxanthinol, on the differentiation of 3T3-L1
preadipocytes to adipocytes. Our results suggest that fucoxanthin and
fucoxanthinol inhibit the adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells through
down-regulation of PPARgamma. Fucoxanthinol had stronger suppressive effects
than fucoxanthin on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells.
Fucoxanthin as the major antioxidant in Hijikia fusiformis, a common edible
seaweed.
Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 1999;
National Food Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries, Ibaraki, Japan.
The radical scavenging activity of Japanese edible seaweeds was screened by the
DPPH (1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) assay to evaluate the DPPH radical scavenging
activity in organic extracts. The fresh brown alga Hijikia fusiformis showed the
strongest DPPH radical scavenging activity, followed by Undaria pinnatifida and
Sargassum fulvellum. The major active compound from Hijikia fusiformis in its
acetone extract was identified as fucoxanthin.