Comprehensive chlorophyll composition in the main edible seaweeds.

Natural chlorophylls present in seaweeds have been studied regarding their biological activities and health benefit effects. However, detailed studies regarding characterization of the complete chlorophyll profile either qualitatively and quantitatively are scarce. This work deals with the comprehensive spectrometric study of the chlorophyll derivatives present in the five main coloured edible seaweeds. The novel complete MS characterization of five chlorophyll derivatives: chlorophyll c, chlorophyll c, purpurin-18 a, pheophytin d and phytyl-purpurin-18 a has allowed to obtain fragmentation patterns associated with their different structural features. New chlorophyll derivatives have been identified and quantified by first time in red, green and brown seaweeds, including some oxidative structures. Quantitative data of the chlorophyll content comes to achieve significant information for food composition databases in bioactive compounds.