Antioxidative activities in some common seaweeds

Dietary antioxidants from plants are believed to help prevent aging and oth er diseases through radical scavenging activity. Free radical scavenging ac tivities by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and deoxyribose assa y were ascertained among 27 species of common seaweeds using a sequential e xtraction method. The results indicated that, DPPH scavenging activity exis ted in 15 species; Gelidium amansii, Gloiosiphonia capillaris, Polysiphonia urceolata, Sargassum kjellmanianum, Desmarestia viridis, and Rhodomela ter es showed the strongest activities. On the other hand, the deoxyribose resu lts showed that almost all the seaweed species had good ability to scavenge hydroxyl radicals. The most active species were Rhodomela teres and Chorda filum.