Abstract

PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF CHAETOMORPHA ANTENNINA FROM RASTHACAUD COAST, TAMIL NADU, INDIA

N. Manchu*, Y. Melpha, S. Jeeva and J. Edwin James

Abstract

Seaweeds of new and novel structures with useful biological activities are the main sources of drugs for medical treatments. Hence the present study was aimed to investigate the preliminary phytochemical analysis and antibacterial activity of Chaetomorpha antennina from Rasthacaud coast, Tamil Nadu, India. To make the study more authentic we prepared the crude extracts from the selected algae using different solvents namely, aqueous, petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol and acetone. C. antennina extracts were tested against four Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and three Gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Enterococcus faecalis). The phytochemical analysis showed the presence of flavonoids, glycosides, carbohydrates, tannins, quinones, coumarins, alkaloids, steroids, proteins, terpenoids, phytosterols and saponins. Carboxylic acid did not show any positive result. It was observed that acetone extract of the algae showed higher inhibitory activity than other solvent extracts. E. coli, S. aureus and E. faecalis were more susceptible pathogens among the tested organisms. From the overall results we conclude that this seaweed can be used against several diseases.

Keywords: Chaetomorpha antennina, solvent extracts, phytochemical screening, antibacterial activity.