Phytochemical Constituents, Antimicrobial Properties and Bioactivity of Marine Red Seaweed (<i>Kappaphycus alvarezii</i>) and Seagrass (<i>Cymodocea serrulata</i>)

• Published in: Foods
• Main Authors: Deep Das, Abimannan Arulkumar, Sadayan Paramasivam, Aroa Lopez-Santamarina, Alicia del Carmen Mondragon, Jose Manuel Miranda Lopez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2023-07-01
• Subjects: phytochemicals; seaweed; seagrass; <i>Kappaphycus</i>; <i>Cymodocea</i>; radical scavenging
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/12/14/2811

The present work was performed to evaluate the levels of phytochemical constituents and the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of marine red seaweed (<i>Kappaphycus alvarezii</i>) and seagrass (<i>Cymodocea serrulata</i>). Quantitative phytochemical analysis, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial activity against five potential pathogenic bacteria was investigated. In each case, we found the presence of flavonoids, tannins, phenolic compounds, glycosides, steroids, carbohydrates and ashes. Alkaloids were only found in <i>K. alvarezii</i>, though they were not found in <i>C. serrulata</i>. The antimicrobial properties of both <i>K. alvarezii</i> and <i>C. serrulata</i> chloroform extracts were found to be antagonistically effective against the Gram-positive bacteria <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> and the Gram-negative bacteria <i>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</i>, <i>Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio harveyi</i> and <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i>. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of 94 bioactive compounds in <i>K. alvarezii</i> and 104 bioactive compounds in <i>C. serrulata</i>, including phenol, decane, dodecane, hexadecane, vanillin, heptadecane, diphenylamine, benzophenone, octadecanoic acid, dotriaconate, benzene, phytol, butanoic acid and 2-hydroxyl-ethyl ether, which all played important roles in antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Thus, in view of the results, both <i>K. alvarezii</i> and <i>C. serrulata</i> could be considered to be sources of ingredients with appreciable nutritional and medicinal value.