Table 2 Summary of the putative biomarkers of seaweed intake, including reasons for inclusion or exclusion from the final list of candidate biomarkers
Food item | Metabolites | Biofluid locations | Reason for inclusion and exclusion | Selected for further systematic validation as BFIs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Brown seaweed | Hydroxytrifuhalol A | Hydrolyzed urine | Specificity and suitable post-prandial kinetics | Yes |
Brown seaweed | 7-Hydroxyeckol | Hydrolyzed urine | Specificity and suitable post-prandial kinetics | Yes |
Brown seaweed | C-O-C dimer of phloroglucinol | Hydrolyzed urine | Specificity and suitable post-prandial kinetics | Yes |
Brown seaweed | Dioxinodehydroeckol glucuronide | Urine | Specificity and suitable post-prandial kinetics | Yes |
Brown seaweed | Diphlorethol sulfate | Urine | Specificity and suitable post-prandial kinetics | Yes |
Brown seaweed | Fucophloroethol glucuronide | Urine | Specificity and suitable postprandial kinetics | Yes |
Brown seaweed | Fucoxanthinol | Plasma | Quite specific, existing in many other marine foods but much lower than that in brown seaweeds | Yes |
Brown seaweed | Pyrogallol sulfate | Urine | Unspecific, also a metabolite found after intake of tea, mango, berry fruits, nuts and red wine. | No |
Brown seaweed | Phloroglucinol sulfate | Urine | Unspecific, also a metabolite found after intake of grape. Phloroglucinol is also a drug. | No |
Brown seaweed | Fucoxanthin | None | Only reported in seaweed and at low levels in some crustaceans, not yet detected in human plasma | No |
Green seaweed | Astaxanthin | Serum | Unspecific, existing in many other marine foods | No |
Green seaweed | Astaxanthin | Plasma | Unspecific, existing in many other marine foods | No |
Red seaweed | β-carotene | Serum | Unspecific, existing in many fruits and vegetables | No |