Bioactive extracts of red seaweeds Pterocladiella capillacea and Osmundaria obtusiloba (Floridophyceae: Rhodophyta) with antioxidant and bacterial agglutination potential

ObjectiveTo evaluate the antioxidant, antibacterial and bacterial cell agglutination activities of the hexane (Hex) and 70% ethanol (70% EtOH) extracts of two species of red seaweeds Pterocladiella capillacea (P. capillacea) and Osmundaria obtusiloba.MethodsIn vitro antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH radical scavenging assay, ferric-reducing antioxidant power assay, ferrous ion chelating assay, β-carotene bleaching assay and total phenolic content quantification. Antimicrobial activity was tested using the method of disc diffusion on Mueller-Hinton medium. The ability of algal extracts to agglutinate bacterial cells was also tested.ResultsThe 70% EtOH extract of the two algae showed the highest values of total phenolic content compared to the Hex extract. The results of DPPH for both extracts (Hex, 70% EtOH) of Osmundaria obtusiloba (43.46% and 99.47%) were higher than those of P. capillacea (33.04% and 40.81%) at a concentration of 1 000 μg/mL. As for the ferrous ion chelating, there was an opposite behavior, extracts of P. capillacea had a higher activity. The extracts showed a low ferric-reducing antioxidant power, with optical density ranging from 0.054 to 0.180. Antioxidant activities of all extracts evaluated for β-carotene bleaching were above 40%. There was no antibacterial activity against bacterial strains tested. However, the extracts of both species were able to agglutinate bacterial Gram positive cells of Staphylococcus aureus and Gram negative cells of Escherichia coli, multidrug-resistant Salmonella and Vibrio harveyi.ConclusionsThis is the first report of the interaction between these algal extracts, rich in natural compounds with antioxidant potential, and Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial cells.