Evaluation of the chemical profile and antioxidant activity of marine algae from the Aegean and Ionian Seas
2011
Mirchevska, M.
Marine algae are photosynthetic aquatic plants growing in a habitat exposed to large amounts of light and oxygen. This leads to the formation of free radicals and highly reactive oxygen species. However, the fact that these seaweeds do not show damage in their structure as a consequence of oxidative stress indicates that they possess diverse antioxidative compounds and mechanisms for their protection from the reactive species. This fact has attracted the attention of the pharmaceutical and food industries. Many assays and studies have been performed with marine algae to determine the structure of the metabolites and the mechanisms responsible for that action. There are many possibilities for incorporation of these compounds in different food products and food supplements, once their positive action on human health is proven. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the chemical profiles and to screen the antioxidant activity of different extracts (dichloromethane, ethanol and distilled water) from 21 marine algae from the Aegean and Ionian Seas. For the antioxidant activity evaluation of the extracts, 3 different tests were employed: the DPPH assay, the FRAP method and luminol chemiluminescence (peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence for the dichloromethane extracts). The total polyphenol content was determined by the Folin - Ciocalteu method. Furthermore, the extracts which exhibited, in these tests, higher activity than the others, were subjected to chromatographic fractionation and LC - MS analyses.
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