Antioxidant potential of Codium edule, Gracilaria firma and Porphyra crispata from the Philippine coast

Antioxidants prevent, delay and neutralize the effects of oxidative change and suppression and/or scavenging of free radicals. There is a rapidly growing interest on the discovery of natural sources of antioxidants including those from marine sources such as seaweeds. This study determined the antioxidant activity of different species of seaweeds from the Philippine coast namely Codium edule, Gracilaria firma and Porphyra crispata. Phytochemical contents of the seaweeds revealed the presence of flavonoids and phenolic compounds. The antioxidant potential of the seaweeds was quantitatively assayed using DPPH radical scavenging activity, ferrous ion chelating activity, reducing power activity and TBA- reactive substances at different concentrations (2mg/mL, 3mg/mL, 4mg/ml). Significant differences were observed in DPPH radical scavenging activity, ferrous ion chelating activity, reducing power activity and TBA-reactive substances experiment and the most significant concentration is 4mg/mL in all assays with Gracilaria firma showing the highest antioxidant potential. Further studies regarding other biological activities of the three different seaweeds are recommended.

Keywords – antioxidant, phenolic, algae, Gracilaria firma, Codium edule, Porphyra crispata