Extraction and antioxidant property of polyhydroxylated naphthoquinone pigments from spines of purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus nudus

Purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus nudus) spines were dissolved in HCl-ethanol-aqueous solution. The polyhydroxylated 1,4-naphthoquinone (PHNQ) pigments were condensed and purified by using macroporous resin in static adsorption mode. PHNQ in the extract were characterised rapidly by using an ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to hybrid quadrupole orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Q-TOFMS). Six known compounds including spinochrome E, 2,7-dihydroxynaphthazarin, spinochrome B. spinochrome C, spinochrome A and echinochrome A, and two new compounds with molecular formula of aminopentahydroxynaphthoquinone and acetylaminotrihydroxynaphthoquinone were identified tentatively. The pigment extract was evaluated for antioxidant activity by using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging capacity assay, Fe2+ chelating assay, reducing power assay, lipid peroxidation inhibition assay and tertiary-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BOOH)-induced macrophages protection assay. In all testing methods, the extract showed excellent activity, indicating the PHNQ from S. nudus spines are potential sources of natural antioxidants. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.