On the GRAS status of seaweeds, 1: Observations on the association between antibacterial activity of ethanolic extracts and metal levels present in selected seaweeds
2001
Vlachos, V. (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (South Africa)) | Critchley, A.T. | von Holy, A.
The relationship between antibacterial activity and levels of 24 metals in 19 selected southern African seaweeds was examined. The antibacterial activity of ethanolic extracts of these seaweeds was assessed by agar diffusion against selected Gram positive and Gram negative test bacteria. Metal levels associated with seaweeds were determined using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. Extracts of the Phaeophyta exhibited the highest level of antibacterial activity, followed by the Rhodophyta and then the Chlorophyta, in decreasing order. Metal levels, however, were highest in the examples studied from the Rhodophyta and then the Phaeophyta and Chlorophyta, in decreasing order. There was no relationship between the observed antibacterial activity of the crude extracts tested and the levels of metals occurring in their tissues. Thus the antimicrobial activity of extracts from the seaweeds tested should also be generally recognized as safe (GRAS).
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