European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

New and therapeutic agents play a vital role to fight against various diseases prevailing in the present era. The bioactive compounds from the marine algae are known to possess antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anticancer properties. Seaweed originates from a natural marine environment had to be tested for their bacterial contamination before consuming it in the raw form. The avoidance and treatment of such pathogens had to be rectified by consuming natural products. One such naturally occurring marine renewable resource is the seaweeds which provide variety of primary and secondary metabolites such as polysaccharides, fatty acids, phlorotannins, phenolic compounds, carotenoids and bioactive compounds with antibacterial, antifungal, antimicrobial activity. Several species of alga have been investigated for their bioactive compounds. There are many studies pertaining to the antibacterial activity of marine seaweeds against various infectious microorganisms. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of Padina gymnospora and Ulva lactuca collected from Gulf of Mannar Bioreserve. The selected seaweed extract exhibited significant antibacterial activity against the clinical pathogens, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  There was no detectable bacterial growth using the selected seaweeds. The methanolic extracts were found to inhibit the growth of all bacterial organisms tested. The antibacterial effects of the selected seaweed extracts were compared with standard amoxylin and Chlorampenicol against the clinical pathogens. The results showed that Padina gymnospora had maximum zone of inhibition of 13.0mm, 14.3mm and 13.3mm than Ulva lactuca with 12.7mm, 13.8mm and 12.9mm against clinical pathogens such as Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study proved that the selected seaweeds had a remarkableantibacterial potential due to their bioactive compounds present naturally than the commercially available medications.