Identification of Polyphenol Substances (MP-1) from Seagrass, Phyllospadix Japonica Makino

BACKGROUND: Phyllospadix japonica Makino is a perennial plant belonging to the family Zosteraceae. This species is native to the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula, and it is found attached to rocks on the seashore. As with all seagrass species, P. japonica is also known to play a major role in protecting the marine envi-ronment, and studies on its physiological activities sug-gestive of its antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-in-flammatory potentials have been reported. In this study, purification and structural analysis were performed to identify the polyphenol substances derived from P. japonica. METHODS AND RESULTS: An polyphenol substance MP-1 was purified from the 70% aqueous methanol ex-tract of P. japonica using Diaion® HP-20 column chromatography, ODS column chromatography, and medium-pressure liquid chromatography (MPLC). The purified MP-1 was identified as rosmarinic acid having a molecular weight of 360 and a molecular formula of C 18 H 16 O 8 through electrospray ionization (ESI)-mass and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analysis. CONCLUSION(S): This study highlights the processes used for the identification of the polyphenol substance derived from P. japonica . Rosmarinic acid, the polyphenol derived from P. japonica identified by this study, is a kind of bioactive substance mainly present in plants. These findings provide an important starting point and are val-uable for future studies on bioactive substances in seagrass.