SCREENING OF ANTI-OXIDANT ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF HYPNEA VALENTIAE (TURNER) MONTAGNE (RED ALGAE) COLLECTED FROM RASTHAKADU, KANYAKUMARI DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA

The present study was undertaken to assess the anti-oxidant activity of ethanolic extract of Hypnea valentiae (Turner) Montagne collected from Rasthakadu coast, Kanyakumari District in the south east coast of Tamil Nadu, India. Free radical scavenging activity was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical by the method of Mensor et al. The percentage of scavenging activity of DPPH by ethanolic extracts at 100μg, 200μg, 300μg, 400μg and 500μg were 28.22, 35.18, 48.75, 57.19 and 66.56%, respectively. These results showed that the DPPH assay in which 500μg showed the highest total anti-oxidant capacity, followed by 400μg, 300μg and 200μg, and lastly 100μg. The results showed that DPPH scavenging activity was increased, when the concentration of ethanolic extracts was also increased. Vitamin C, a strong anti-oxidant was used as control, and the anti-oxidant potential was compared to all tested samples.