Abstract
In the present study, fifteen species of the dominant marine algae were collected during summer 2013 from four selected sites on Red sea coast, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The collected species belonged to Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta. Crude algal extracts were prepared by successive extractions using different solvents (acetone, ethanol, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, methanol and petroleum ether). The crude algal extracts were examined for their antifungal efficacy against Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis using agar well diffusion method. The algal extracts evoked different patterns of antifungal activities. Results reveal that acetone was the best solvent suited for extraction of bioactive compounds from tested seaweeds with inhibition activity (19.3%) followed by ethyl acetate (17.1%), ethanol (16.4%), petroleum ether (15.9%), diethyl ether (15.85%), and finally methanol (15.4%). Chlorophyta exhibited the highest antimycotic effect followed by Rhodophyta and Phaeophyta. In Chlorophyta, the extracts of Ulva intestinalis were the most potent followed by U. lactuca, C. racemosa, U. linza and U. reticulate. Acanthophora spicifera showed the highest activity in Rhodophyta, followed by J. rubens, D. simplex, L. obtusa, G. gracilis, G. vermicuphylla and G. multipartita. Whereas, T. triquetra was the most effective species in Phaeophyta followed by P. pavonica and D. dichotoma. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the most potent algal extracts were in the range of 0.5 to 4 mg/ml. The results confirmed the antimycotic potentiality of seaweed extracts.
Highlights
The requirements for expansion of alternative antimicrobial agents were explored since the appearance of antibiotic resistant microbes [1]
The crude algal extracts were examined for their antifungal efficacy against Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis using agar well diffusion method
Antimicrobial activities of crude extracts of fifteen species of marine seaweeds represented by five Chlorophyta (Coulerpa racemosa, Ulva intestinalis, U. lactuca, U. linza and U. reticulata), three Phaeophyta (Turbinaria triquetra, Padina pavonica and Dictyota dichotoma) and seven Rhodophyta (Acanthophora spicifera, Digenea simplex, Gracilaria gracilis, G. multipartita, G. vermicuphylla, Jania rubens and Laurencia obtusa) were tested against five pathogenic fungi (Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, Candida tropicalis and C. albicans) (Figures 1-3)
Summary
The requirements for expansion of alternative antimicrobial agents were explored since the appearance of antibiotic resistant microbes [1]. Marine environment is a pool of bioactive natural compounds that are not found in terrestrial natural products [3]. The production of secondary metabolites of potential interest from marine algae has been extensively documented [4] [5]. Seaweeds are considered as source of bioactive compounds and produce a great variety of secondary metabolites with broad spectrum of biological activities. These substances show an appreciable number of distinct biological activities such as antitumoral, antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, cytotoxic, antidermatophytal, phytotoxic and antiproliferative action [6] [7] [8]
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