Biomedical properties, characterization of seaweeds species and antimicrobial activity

Abstract

Marine organisms produce a variety of compounds with pharmacological activities. In order to better comprehend the medicinal value of five particular seaweed orders Ulvales (Ulva intestinalis), Bryopsidales (Codium decorticatum), Ectocarpales (Iyengaria stellata), Dictyotales (Spatoglossum aspermum) and Gigartinales (Hypnea musciformis), a bioactive analysis including the screening of phytochemical components, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities was the aim of the investigation. The species include U. intestinalis was collected from Sandspit, while C. decorticatum, I. stellata, S. aspermum, and H. musciformis were gathered from Buleji. These species evaluated for their ability to inhibit human infectious gram positive pathogens Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis as well as gram negative bacteria Escherichia coli. Additionally vegetable pathogen Fusarium oxysporum, and fruit pathogens (Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus) were evaluated to determine the zone of inhibition. Two organic solvents, ethanol and methanol, were used to prepare seaweed extract. The disc diffusion method was utilized to quantify the zone of inhibition and the DPPH method was employed to measure the antioxidant activity. The study unveiled various phyto-constituents in the tested seaweeds, with flavonoids, tannins, and proteins found in all selected species, while saponins, terpenoids, and carbohydrates were absent in I. stellata and S. aspermum. Notably, ethanolic extracts of I. stellata and S. aspermum demonstrated superior higher antioxidant activity, with increasing percentages of inhibition from 1 to 6 mg/ml. Furthermore, the findings indicated that the ethanolic extract of U. intestinalis displayed the highest resistance against F. oxysporum and A. flavous among other seaweeds. Meanwhile, the ethanolic extract of C. decorticatum exhibited the highest resistance against A. Niger. Additionally, the ethanolic extract of I. stellata and H. musciformis displayed the highest resistance against the gram-negative bacteria E. coli and the gram-positive bacteria S. epidermidis, whereas the methanolic extract of U. intestinalis demonstrated the highest resistance against the gram-positive bacteria S. aureus. The findings of this investigation show that a range of bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties are involved in the antimicrobial activities of disease-causing pathogens.