Quantitative Screening of Phytochemicals of five Red Seaweeds from the Northern Kerala Coast, India

Abstract

The Quantitative analysis of 5 phytochemical parameters: Tannins, Flavonoids, Phenols, Steroids, and Terpenoids has been done for 5 Red seaweeds belonging to the family –Rhodophyceae i.e. Gracilaria corticata, Grateloupia lithophila, Gelidium micropterum, Chondracanthus acicularis, and Centroceras clavulatum, from the Northern Kerala coast: Thikkodi, Elathur, Kappad and Beypore, located in the Kozhikode district. Methanolic extracts of the seaweeds were used for the Phytochemical component screening. The study found that Flavonoid content was the lowest among other parameters ranging from 2.61±0.04 mg QE/g dw to 5.57±0.23 QE/g dw. The steroid was found to be higher in the case of C. acicularis (61.32±0.04 mg BSE/g dw) and C. clavulatum (65.80±0.02 mg BSE/g dw). Followed by it was Tannin which was highest in G. micropterum (49.20±0.56 mg CE/g dw) and C. acicularis (32.01±0.24 mg CE/g dw), whereas G. lithophila showed consistently lower concentrations in Phenols (0.19±0.01 mg GAE/g dw), Tannins (9.43±1.59 mg CE/g dw), and Steroids (3.69±0.01 mg BSE/g dw). To the best of our Knowing the current Quantitative analysis of phytochemicals in Red seaweeds is the pioneering work done in the following study areas: Kappad, Elathur, and Beypore. This phytochemical screening with reference to past studies on the same domain confirms that a lot of work needs to be done yet.