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Component analysis and utilization strategy of brown macroalgae as promising feedstock for sugar platform-based marine biorefinery

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Abstract

Brown algae have gained attention as a sustainable feedstock for biorefineries due to their ability to sequester carbon dioxide, rapid growth, and high carbohydrate content. The carbohydrate content in brown algae has only been analyzed for a few species, and in most cases, access to fundamental data such as sugar composition is limited, which hinders the assessment of brown algal biomass-based biorefining potential. In this study, the carbohydrate composition of brown algae (Undaria pinnatifida, Saccharina japonica, Ecklonia cava, and Ecklonia stolonifera) was analyzed in detail and application directions were proposed. As a result, alginate and glucan were detected in all resources, and the contents (alginate and glucan wt%) were as follows: U. pinnatifida (39.6 and 4.9 wt%), S. japonica (34.0 and 6.3 wt%), E. cava (24.3 and 7.7 wt%), and E. stolonifera (39.1 and 9.7 wt%). All feedstocks contain trace amounts (2.9–4.9 wt%) or no xylan-mannan-galactan. Mannitol was detected only in S. japonica (26.7 wt%) in rich, showing high potential as a biorefinery feedstock. We highlight that the carbohydrate composition of E. cava and E. stolonifera was analyzed for the first time and the potential use of brown algal biomass in a biorefinery approach.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Korea Institute of Marine Science & Technology Promotion (KIMST) funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Grant No. 20220258).

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  1. Jeongho Lee and Hyeonmi Shin have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Sangmyung University, Seoul, 03016, Korea

    Jeongho Lee & Hah Young Yoo

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, 01897, Korea

    Hyeonmi Shin, Hyeseon Lee, Giwon Lee & Chulhwan Park

  3. Department of Bio-Convergence Engineering, Dongyang Mirae University, Seoul, 08221, Korea

    Kang Hyun Lee

  4. Department of Bioengineering and Nano-Bioengineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, 22012, Korea

    Sungho Jang

  5. Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, 37673, Korea

    Gyoo Yeol Jung

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Lee, J., Shin, H., Lee, K.H. et al. Component analysis and utilization strategy of brown macroalgae as promising feedstock for sugar platform-based marine biorefinery. Biotechnol Bioproc E 29, 377–386 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-024-00022-8

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