PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSES, In vitro ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIBACTERIAL EFFICACY OF AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF SEAWEEDS Enteromorpha intestinalis (L.) AND Gracilaria edulis (Gmelin) (Silva) COLLECTED FROM PULICAT LAKE, TAMIL NADU

Seaweeds are natural, abundant and vital bio resources available as a product of vast marine ecosystem. The green algae Enteromorpha intestinalis and red algae Gracilaria edulis were collected from Pulicat lake in Tamil Nadu and their respective aqueous extracts were prepared. Those extracts were screened for phytochemical availability and evaluated for in vitro antibacterial activity against five pathogenic bacteria viz., Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Vibrio alginolyticus. Both seaweed extracts were found to be effective against Salmonella typhi tested. The seaweed aqueous extracts were also tested for the antioxidant potential using the DPPH method and it is inferred that E. Intestinalis showed higher radical scavenging ability and the efficiency was found to be more than half of the known standard BHT. Therefore this study suggests the usage of seaweeds E. intestinalis and G. edulis for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical purposes.