α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activities of Lutein and Zeaxanthin Purified from Green Alga Chlorella ellipsoidea α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activities of Lutein and Zeaxanthin Purified from Green Alga Chlorella ellipsoidea

α-Glucosidase inhibitors are used therapeutically to treat type-2 diabetes mellitus. Through a bioassay-guided fractionation technique, three carotenoids,(all-E)-lutein,(all-E)-zeaxanthin and(9-Z)-zeaxanthin, were purified from the green alga Chlorella ellipsoidea, in which(all-E)-lutein and(9-Z)-zeaxanthin had potent α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. IC_(50) values of(all-E)-lutein and(9-Z)-zeaxanthin were 70 and 53.5 μmol L~(-1) against Saccharomyces cerevisiae α-glucosidase, respectively, with non-competitive inhibition. In addition, IC_(50) values of(9-Z)-zeaxanthin against Bacillus stearothermophilus and rat-intestinal α-glucosidase were 805.1 and 671.2 μmol L~(-1), respectively. The K_i values of(all-E)-lutein and(9-Z)-zeaxanthin against S. cerevisiae α-glucosidase were 78.1 and 16.5 μmol L~(-1), respectively. Therefore, C. ellipsoidea carotenoids might be utilized as a novel candidate to prevent type-2 diabetes mellitus related disorders in food and medical industry