Fucoxanthin pigment markers of marine phytoplankton analysed by HPLC and HPTLC

Abstract

High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used to separate fucoxanthin, 19'-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin and a 19'butanoyloxyfucoxanthin-like pigment from algal cultures. Pavlova luthen (Prymnesiophyceae) contained fucoxanthin only, whereas Emiliania huxleyi, Phaeocystis pouchetii (Prymnesiophyceae) and Pelagococcus subviridis (Chrysophyceae) contained all 3 fucoxanthin pigments in widely different proportions. The 3 pigments, which were also found in phytoplankton samples from Antarctic waters, may provide useful markers of phytoplankton in field samples. The HPTLC method provides a rapid screening technique for fucoxanthin pigments, complementing the more powerful but time-consuming HPLC ' ' Where only chromatographic and spectral data are available, and not full chemical characterization, the suffix-'like' is added (SCOR Worlung Group 77, unpubl. recommendation)