Arsenosugars in raw and cooked edible seaweed:: Characterization and bioaccessibility

The aim of this study was to examine arsenic species contents in raw and cooked edible seaweed and the bioaccessibility (maximum soluble concentration in gastrointestinal medium) of arsenosugars (glycerol ribose, phosphate ribose, sulfonate ribose, and sulfate ribose). For the analysis, a new chromatographic separation was developed in anion exchange, coupled with thermooxidation-hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry. An in vitro digestion (pepsin, pH 2; pancreatin-bile extract, pH 7) was applied to estimate arsenosugar bioaccessibility. Cooking of Undaria pinnatifida and Porphyra sp. did not alter the arsenic species present in the methanol-water extract, but it produced a substantial increase (2 and 5 times) in the As(V) extracted from Hizikia fusiforme. In all of the seaweeds analyzed, arsenosugar bioaccessibility was high (> 80%) and did not vary as a result of cooking. Arsenosugar degradation as a result of in vitro digestion was not observed.