Bioactive potentials of red seaweeds, Gracilaria corticata J.Ag., and Gracilaria follifera(Forssk.) Boergs.

Chitra.G; Fincyrose K F

Volume : V, Issue : III, March - 2016

Bioactive potentials of red seaweeds, Gracilaria corticata J.Ag., and Gracilaria follifera(Forssk.) Boergs.

Chitra. G, Fincyrose K F

Abstract :

The most common form of marine vegetation found in the sea is algae, which populate the pelagic zone to the lowest point of light penetration. The largest of the marine algae (green, own, and red) or macrophytes, are found in the comparatively narrow coastal zone of the sea known as the sublittoral. Presence of metabolites such as fatty acids, steroids, carotenoids, lectin and mycosporine like amino acids, halogenated compounds polypeptides and toxins as well as other sulphated polysaccharides make these organisms an economically important product. Seaweeds or marine macro –algae are potential renewable resource in the marine environment. It has been used as anti–oxidant , anti–mutagen, anti–coagulant anti–microbial and anti–tumoragent. Majority of their antioxidant activity is due to flavones, isoflavones, flavonoids, anthocyanin, Coumarin, ligans, catechins and isocatechin. Seaweeds are rich in antioxidants such as carotenoids, pigments, polyphenols , enzymes and diverse functional polysaccharides. The main objective of the present study was to determine the biochemical composition, phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of Gracilaria follifera and Gracilaria corticata collected from Thikkodi coast