Independent and synergistic activity of the flavonoids of Gracilaria corticata as promising antidiabetic agents

The therapeutic approaches for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus rely most on the usage of oral hypoglycaemic drugs. These drugs have adverse side effects and hence alternative medicines are continuously explored. The present study intends to investigate the antidiabetic potential of the flavonoids present in Gracilaria corticata. The flavonoids were isolated (FEGC) and their inhibitory activity on the carbohydrate hydrolysing enzymes such as α-amylase and α-glucosidase was analysed. The flavonoids were found to inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase with an IC50 value of 302 µg and 75 µg respectively. The synergistic effect of FEGC and luteolin was also investigated and the results show that both FEGC and luteolin inhibited synergistically at half their IC50 values. The observations of this study reveal that the flavonoids of G. corticata have potential antidiabetic activity and can act independently or synergistically in the management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Biochemical and Nanotechnological Studies in Selected Seaweeds of Chennai Coast.

Three different seaweeds Gracilaria corticata J.Agardh ,Grateloupia lithophila Boergesen and Chaetomorpha antennina(Bory) kuetz used for the study were subjected for the estimation of carbohydrates, proteins, aminoacids, lipids and pigments such as chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid and phycobilins. They were also used for the nanoparticles synthesis and also checked for the blood glucose level changes by the oral administration of the seaweeds (0.5 g/day) to 6 mice for 20 days and with 3 mice as controls. The chaetomorpha, grateloupia and gracilaria estimation results showed 18.4%, 5.5%, 3.6% for carbohydrates, 15.8%, 30.5%, 23.7% for proteins, 4.9%, 22.94%, 11.04% for amino acids, 0.3%, 1.8%, 1.2% for lipids, 33.93, 1.35, 2.97 (mg/g fresh sample) for total chlorophyll, 0.2, 0.6, 5.49 (mg/g fresh sample) for carotenoid, 1.75, 2.1, 5.04 (μg/g fresh sample) for phycoerythrin respectively. They were also investigated for the extracellular biosynthesis of silver and gold nanoparticle and have achieved rapid formation of gold nanoparticles using Chaetomorpha antennina and Gracilaria corticata. It has been confirmed with the surface plasmon resonance.

Preliminary Phytochemical, UV-VIS, HPLC and Anti-bacterial Studies on Gracilaria corticata J. Ag

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the preliminary phytochemical analysis and UV-VIS, HPTC profiling and the antibacterial activity of Gracilaria corticata J. Ag extracts against the Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. Methods: Preliminary phytochemical screening was carried out by Harborne method. The G. corticata extracts were tested against bacteria by the agar disc diffusion method. Results: The results of the presence study showed the presence of alkaloids, steroids, phenolic groups, saponins, tannin, flavonoids, terpenoids, glycosides and sugars. Proteins, xantoproteins, coumarins and catechin did not show any positive result for their presence in any of the six extracts of Gracilaria corticata tested. The result of the present study revealed the various behavior character of Gracilaria corticata crude drug. The UV-VIS spectrum profile of Gracilaria corticata methanolic, petroleum ether, benzene and aqueous extracts profiles were recorded. The HPLC profile of Gracilaria corticata petroleum ether benzene and aqueous extracts were tabulated. The maximum (9/12 bacterial pathogens) degree of antibacterial activity was observed in isopropanol soxhlet extracts followed by isopropanol cold extracts (7/12 bacterial pathogens). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that G. corticata may be rich sources of phytoconstituents which can be isolated and further screened for different kinds of biological activities, depending on their reported therapeutic uses.