Wild and cultivated Ecklonia cava: A comparative study of metabolites and bioactivities for industrial applications

Ecklonia cava, an East Asian brown algae, is valued for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory metabolites. This study is the first to investigate the metabolite profiles and biological activities of cultivated E. cava (CE) in comparison with those of wild E. cava (WE). A 50 % ethanol extract prepared from WE (WECE) and CE (CECE) was used for comparative analysis. WECE showed higher total polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity than CECE, while both extracts demonstrated similar anti-inflammatory activity. UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS analysis revealed the CECE contains key polyphenolic metabolites that are also present in WE, including eckol, 6,6′-bieckol, dieckol, and phlorofucofuroeckol-A. A total of 148 differential metabolites were identified, among which eight matairesinol, 2-protocatechuyl phloroglucinol carboxylic acid, 5-methyl-3-[(11Z,15Z)-11,15-tricosadien-1-yl]-2(5H)-furanone, neoacrimarine E, glycyl-α-aspartylglycylalanyl-asparaginylalanylglutaminate, pteroyltyrosine, kosamol A, and daucosterol were strongly correlated with both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities and exhibited similar compositional patterns in both extracts. Furthermore, correlation analysis of the overall metabolite composition between WECE and CECE indicated no significant differences. These results suggest that, despite the lower extraction yield and total phenolic content, CECE retains bioactive components comparable to WECE. These findings suggest that CE, which shows comparable metabolite composition and bioactivity to its wild counterpart, holds strong potential as a sustainable source for the industrial production of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents.