Biochemical and Anti-proliferative activities of seven abundant tropical red seaweeds confirm nutraceutical potential of Grateloupia indica

Abstract

Seaweeds are being used as food items in Asian countries from ancient times. Seaweeds mainly grow in intertidal zone and survive extreme environmental conditions and thus have developed metabolites, which help them survive in such conditions. Red seaweeds have proven to be rich in compounds, which are antioxidant and having many other health benefits. In this study, seven most abundantly grown red seaweeds, Gracilaria corticata (GC), Grateloupia indica (GI), Kappaphycus alvarezii (KA), Solieria robusta (SR), Amphiroa anceps (AA), Halymenia porphyriformis (HP), and Sarconema scinaioides (SS) were collected from Saurashtra coast of Arabian Sea. Harvested seaweeds were subjected to metabolite profiling, flavonoid and phenolic content analysis, different biological activities including radical scavenging, antioxidant, reducing and proliferation inhibition. Overall, GI was found to contain high contents (flavonoid and phenolic), biological activities and proliferation inhibition. Study confirms nutraceutical potential of red seaweed Grateloupia indica to be explored further for the bioactive compound or to be used as functional food.