FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING AND INHIBITION OF PROTEIN DENATURATION CAPABILITY OF CHLOROFORM EXTRACT OF MARINE ALGA GRACILARIA CORTICATA (J. AGARDH).

Deepa S.*, Bhuvana B., Hemamalini S., Sathesh Kumar K. and Janet C

ABSTRACT

Seaweeds are one of the richest and essential resources in the marine ecosystem, which are the major sources for various biologically active components and also have been used as a source of food and medicine. In this present study we assessed the various extracts of Gracilaria corticata, a red algae, for anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory potency if any. Successive extracts of Gracilaria corticata were prepared and subjected to anti-oxidant activity. Among the extracts, chloroform extract of Gracilaria corticata were showed good anti-oxidant activity when compared to standard. Hence it was analyzed by GC-MS technique for the identification of constituents responsible for the activity and it was also tested for anti-inflammatory property by protein denaturation technique. Among each concentration, chloroform extract excibited respectable activity with utmost inhibition og about 81.08% at a concentration for which the percentage inhibition is 98.3%. The whole study shown that Gracilaria corticata has appreciable free radical scavenging activity and significant anti-inflammatory property with a scope of further bioassay guided screening of the active components.

Keywords: Gracilaria corticata, Seaweed, Free radical Scavenging, protein denaturation, GC-MS.