ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY EVALUATION AND PHENOLIC COMPOUND CONTENT DETERMINATION OF SEAWEEDS EXTRACTS FROM THE COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN

Abstract

Nowadays, antioxidants are compounds of great interest because they help positively to maintain human health. There is a marked interest in searching for antioxidants of natural sources, such as seaweed. For this reason extracts from five Colombian seaweeds: Caulerpa mexicana, Laurencia sp., Sargassum sp., Dictyota sp. and Sargassum cymosum are analyzed in this work. Total phenolic content is determined using the Folin- Ciocalteau method and their antioxidant activity is determined by the DDPH method. Results show that all studied species of Colombian seaweeds have an antioxidant activity possibly related with their total phenolic content. Sargassum cymosum is the most active and it contains major phenolic compounds content. Results show that marine Colombian sources have a big potential for searching substances, with application in the pharmaceutics and alimentary sector.

Keywords

• actividad antioxidante
• compuestos fenólicos
• algas marinas