Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Seaweeds are the known sources of pharmacological compounds and food additives with health effects due to their antioxidative properties. The present studied to measure in vitro antioxidant activity, polyphenols and diphenol content of the dominant seaweed available during survey. During the investigations seaweed from intertidal zones were collected fortnightly from August-2012 to March-2013. The collected species were identified taxonomically and classified. Seaweed extract was prepared with methanol @ of 1:1 w/v. The antioxidant property of the seaweeds extracts were tested using DPPH Radical Scavenging Assay. Polyphenols content was determined using Folin-Phenol reagent method, while diphenol content was estimated by spectrophotometric method described by Rabadia. During the investigation 32 species of seaweed, out of these 5 were from Chlorophyceae, 9 from Phaeophyceae and 18 from Rhodophyceae group were tested. The highest antioxidant potential was exhibited by Padina tetrastomatica (25.67+1.75 mM eq. ascorbic acid/g DW), which also showed higher amount of polyphenols and diphenol content 42.25+4.67 and 7.42+0.52 mg/g DW, respectively. Cystoseira indica ranked second with (22.17+0.38 mM Eq. ascorbic acid/g DW) in Phaeophyceae. Among Chlorophyceae, Boodlea composite showed the highest DPPH scavenging activity followed by Bryopsis plumosa. While in red algae, Sarconema filiforma and Rhodomenia australis were most potent species in the group which showed almost equal value of DPPH scavenging activity. The results indicated that there are significant difference among all the species studied for antioxidant potential, poly phenol and di-phenol content. The antioxidative potential of seaweeds would elevate their beneficial value as food and feed. Antioxidant activity of potent seaweeds species would elevate their beneficial value as natural source of antioxidant in pharmaceuticals, anti ageing agent feed industries, etc.

Keywords: Antioxidant Activity, DPPH, Folin-Phenol Reagent, Natural Antioxidant, Phenolic Content, Seaweed, Veraval Coast