Antioxidant activity and total phenolic contents of selected seaweeds from Okha coast of Gujarat

Abstract

India has 7,500 km of coastline bounded to the south by the Indian Ocean to the west by the Arabian Sea to the east by the Bay of Bengal. Gujarat covers nearly 1600 km of coastal area. The marine macroalgae are a diverse group of organisms. In the present study, a total of 69 species of green, red, and brown seaweed were collected at the Okha coast (220 28’ 1 N, 690 04’ 44 E). The methanolic extracts were prepared from the collected seaweeds. Further, methanolic extracts of the seaweeds were assessed for their antioxidant activity using the DPPH radical scavenging assay using the microplate reader. Among all the selected seaweed Hypnea musciformis has the highest antioxidant activity compared to others. Folin–Ciocalteu method was used to determine the total phenolic content. Gelidium coulteri had content higher amount of phenolic content compared to other seaweeds. The results suggest that selected seaweeds possess antioxidant potential and phenolic content which could be considered for future applications in pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries.