Antioxidant activity and lipid profile of three seaweeds of Faro, Portugal

Three seaweeds, Codium fragile (Suringar) Hariot, Ulva lactuca (Linn.) members and Eisenia arborea (Areschoug) (Phaeophyta) were assessed for their antioxidant activities and lipid profile. Antioxidant activities of methanolic and aqueous extracts were analyzed for DPPH free radical scavenging, FRAP, total antioxidant, ABTS radical cation decolorizing, reducing power, total flavonoid, and total phenolic contents. Methanolic extract of E. arborea was found to contain high phenolic and flavonoid contents with higher antioxidant activities in all assays studied. Aqueous extract of E. arborea was the next active extract, whereas both the extracts of C. fragile were not highly anti-oxidative in nature. The methanolic extract of U. lactuca possessed higher activity and higher phenolic content compared to aqueous counterparts. This suggests the potential uses of seaweeds as a source for natural bioactive compounds with more antioxidant activities. Among these three seaweeds, E. arborea was found to have higher activities and their lipid and chemical constituents were identified by GCMS and LCMS.