International Journal of Marine Science, 2016, Vol.6, No.20, 1-6
2
treatments against viral infections over the past half of a century, still several infections, such as human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and dengue virus (DENV), afflict a substantial
proportion of the world populations in all generations (Lazarus et al., 2014). The unique living environment has
gifted the marine world an assorted collection of algae from microorganisms to giant seaweeds. Various types of
algae from microscopic diatoms to unicellular organisms and seaweeds reaching30m in length have stimulated
significant economic interest’s agar, fertilizer, food, source of iodine, and potash (Yasuhara and Lu, 2010).
However, algal based bio sorbents can be modified by a treatment of ferric chloride (FeCl3) followed by paralysis
to yield a Fe-treated biochar with a high bio sorption capacity for Serve in solution (Roberts et al., 2014. One
potentially abundant source of biomass for bio sorption applications is the use of the waste biomass produced in
the commercial extraction of agar from cultivated red seaweeds. The main genus of algae grown for the extraction
of agar is
Gracilaria
. Commercial cultivation of
Gracilaria
is increasing rapidly worldwide, particularly in
Indonesia where more than 500,000 tonnes are produced annually (Sibeni and Calderini, 2012). Many substances
obtained from marine algae such as alginate, carrragenean and agar as phycocolliods have been used for decades
in medicine and pharmacy fields. They showed bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity. Among the natural
products substances like amino acids, terpenoids, phlorotannins, steroids, phenolic compounds, halogenated
ketones and alkanes, cyclic polysulphides, fatty acids and acrylic acids etc are seen in marine algae (Kidgel et al.,
2014). Anti-inflammatory properties have been reported for only two species of red algae
G. verrucosa
and
G.
textorii
The anti-inflammatory effects of a methanol extract of
Neorhodomela aculeate
in neurological diseases
included inhibiting cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, H
2
O
2
induced lipid per oxidation, and
inducible nitric oxide synthase (Lee et al., 2011).
Macro algae in the Red Sea are adapted to living in an environment with specific demands. The temperature is often
above 35 ̊
C, and the specific nutrients available define their cellular compositions. Macro algae express highly
bioactive compounds that may be exploitable as antimicrobial agents to support both human and animal health. The
isolation and identification of new compounds with potential health or pharmaceutical and medicinal activities have
attracted intensive research efforts (Kajiwara et al., 2007). Several studies have shown the antibacterial effects of
macroalgal and plant extracts , including those from the algae
Padina tetrostomatica Syringodium
isoetifolium ,Haligra sp.Gelidiella acerosa , Laminaria digitata , L. saccharina , Himanthalia elongate , Palmaria
palmate, Chondrus crispus and Enteromorpha spirulina
, and plants
Dortenia picta
and
Bridelia micrantha
against several pathogenic bacteria (Gupta and Abu,2011). The ability to produce bioactive substances may be
noticed not only as a defense mechanism but also as a good source of new bioactive compounds from a
pharmaceutical point of view. Recently bioactive allele chemical compounds from
Oscillatoria
species (Egypitian
isolates). Many unique compounds of fresh water origin with various biological activities have been isolated and
some of them are under investigation to develop new pharmaceuticals (Elsie and Dhanarajan, 2010).
Materials and Methods
Collection of marine alga
Marine alga samples are collected from the coastal areas of Tuticorin at the south east coast if India. The
taxonomic identification of the species was identified as Red algae
Hypnea musciformis
.
Extract preparation
Collected samples were washed with tap water to remove epiphytes and other marine organisms and then washed
with distilled water. Samples were shade dried and powdered. The extracts were prepared using the solvent
methanol.
FTIR Analysis
The FT-IR analysis of sample was carried for marine algal extracts. All the IR spectra were recorded at room
temperature (26
°
C or 1
°
C) in the mid infrared range (40000-400 cm 1) using FT-IR – spectrum RX I, Fourier
Transform Infrared Spectrometer (PerkinElmer, USA). Typically, 20 scans were signal-averaged for a single
spectrum. Each spectrum was displayed in terms of absorbance as calculated from the reflectance- absorbance
spectrum using the Hyper-IR software.
