Bioactive agents from beach waste: Syringodium flotsam evaluation as a new source of l-chiro-inositol

Flotsam from the seagrass Syringodium filiforme were assayed for inositols, a class of cyclitol well known for their biological activities and applications. Free l-chiro-inositol (LCI), a very rare natural occurring cyclitol, was isolated from aqueous extracts of dried detrital leaves. The structure was unambiguously established by NMR and polarimetry. The LCI content of the crude aqueous extracts prepared from different batches of Syringodium flotsam was measured by quantitative 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The high concentrations found (2.3–2.5% dry weight) offer promise for the exploitation of Syringodium flotsam as a new cheap source for nutraceutical or therapeutic applications, considering the demonstrated hypoglycaemic action of LCI.Industrial relevanceIn the West the demand for herbal drugs has reached a new high in recent years. As the demand for alternative medicine has grown, so have the harvesting and collection pressures for numerous ecologies that produce the medicinal plants of interest. There is evidence in literature that chiro-inositol can be used in managing diabetes. Flotsam of the seagrass Syringodium filiforme, which accumulate in huge quantities on the beaches of the Caribbean Sea, could become a new and interesting source to obtain extracts rich in chiro-inositol. Heretofore, there has been no market for Syringodium flotsam, so that the cost of the same is simply that of harvesting. Recovery of inositol from this waste material could offer very interesting economic possibilities to tropical coastal areas suffering from increased rates of unemployment.