UTILIZATION OF Ulva fasciata (CHLOROPHYTA) BIOMASS AS A SOURCE OF ANTIOXIDANT SULFATED POLYSACCHARIDES

Ulva fasciata (Chlorophyta) from eutrophicated areas offers bioactives sulfated polysaccharides (UfSPs). In this study papain-extracted biomass was used to quantify and analyze structural and antioxidant properties of UfSPs. Sequentially the algal residues were redigested and UfSPs-1→3 characterized by agarose/polyacrylamide gels electrophoreses vs. standard glycosaminoglycans stained with toluidine blue; and then by infrared technique. UfSPs-1/-3 were in vitro evaluated for antioxidant effects by DPPH, total antioxidant capacity and ferrous ion chelating methods against BHT, ascorbic acid and EDTA, respectively. Total yield was 34.76% considering UfSPs-1→3 extracts, but reaching 27.6% within extracts (p<0.05). Molecular analyses of UfSPs characterized as ulvan of size >100 kDa, with low structural unregularity along the algal matrix. All the tests showed effects by UfSPs-1/-3, but revealing important variations in antioxidant response with less efficacy than respective synthetics. Therefore, U. fasciata biomass expresses antioxidant SPs along of its cell-wall.