Evaluation of antioxidant property of extract and fractions obtained from a red alga, Polysiphonia urceolata

Antioxidant activity (AA), total phenolic content, and reducing power of the crude extract, fractions, and subfractions derived from a red alga, Polysiphonia urceolata, were evaluated and determined. The antioxidative activity was measured using the α,α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and the β-carotene–linoleate assay systems, and compared with that of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), gallic acid (GA), and ascorbic acid (AscA). The results showed that the crude extract and the ethyl acetate-soluble fraction exhibited higher AA than BHT in the DPPH assay model, at all of four concentration levels tested (from 0.4 to 50 μg/ml), while, in the β-carotene–linoleate assay system, the crude extract and the ethyl acetate-soluble fraction exhibited similar or, in most cases, higher AA than GA and AscA at the same concentrations (from 10 to 200 μg/ml). The ethyl acetate-soluble fraction was further fractionated into seven subfractions F1–F7 by silica gel vacuum liquid chromatography. F1 was found to be the most effective subfraction in both assay systems. The total phenolic content and reducing power were determined using the Folin–Ciocalteu and the potassium ferricyanide reduction methods, respectively. Statistical analysis indicated a significant association between the antioxidant potency and total phenolic content as well as between the antioxidant potency and reducing power.