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Antioxidant Activities of Four Edible Seaweeds from the Southern Coast of Thailand

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Abstract

The aqueous extracts of four marine algae, Caulerpa racemosa var. macrophysa, Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. tenuistipitata, Sargassum sp., and Ulva lactuca, from the coastal areas in Southern Thailand, were prepared by boiling dried seaweed powder in water for 3 h, and by autoclaving each sample at 120 °C for 3 h. They were then freeze-dried and evaluated for their antioxidant activities using DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl), hydroxyl radical (OH•) and superoxide anion (O •−2 ) scavenging assays. Boiling extracts of the seaweeds, except C. racemosa, were found to have higher total phenolic contents (TPC) than those obtained from the autoclave method. The antioxidant results also showed that O •−2 scavenging activity existed only in the boiling extracts of C. racemosa, G. tenuistipitata, and U. lactuca. In DPPH and OH• assays, however, almost all the boiling extracts were less active than the autoclave ones. Among the four alga species, Sargassum sp. was the most active. Both extracts of this seaweed had the highest TPC and also displayed the strongest DPPH• and OH• inhibitory activities. A strong positive-correlation between the antioxidant potency and TPC of the autoclave extracts was found, while for the boiling extracts such relation was very weak. This result thus reflected that in addition to the phenolic compounds, there might be some other active components present in these extracts involved in the antioxidant activity.

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Abbreviations

BHT:

Butylated hydroxytoluene

DPPH:

1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl

NBT:

Nitroblue tetrazolium dihydrochloride

OH• :

Hydroxyl radical

H2O2 :

Hydrogen peroxide

O •−2 :

Superoxide anion

TAE:

Tannic acid equivalents

TPC:

Total phenolic content

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Thailand’s Commission on Higher Education. The authors wish to thank Dr. Brian Hodgeson for his helpful suggestions on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aquatic Science, Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Thailand

    Monsuang Yangthong & Wutiporn Phromkunthong

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, 90112, Thailand

    Nongporn Hutadilok-Towatana

  3. Natural Products Research Center, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Thailand

    Nongporn Hutadilok-Towatana

Authors
  1. Monsuang Yangthong
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  2. Nongporn Hutadilok-Towatana
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  3. Wutiporn Phromkunthong
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Correspondence to Nongporn Hutadilok-Towatana.

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Yangthong, M., Hutadilok-Towatana, N. & Phromkunthong, W. Antioxidant Activities of Four Edible Seaweeds from the Southern Coast of Thailand. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 64, 218–223 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-009-0127-y

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