Natural products have been a source of bioactive compounds and is directly or indirectly responsible for about 40% of all drugs available in modern therapy. Due to its diverse environment, macroalgae have the potential to biosynthesize a variety of bioactive molecules. Taking this into consideration, the aim of this study was to investigate the biological activities of extracts from 25 species of macroalgae of Pernambuco state coast, including species of green, brown and red. The macroalgae were collected, identified, dried and extracted with dichloro methane/methanol 2: 1, with yields ranging from 0.2 to 16.8%. The extracts were then subjected to antimicrobial testing against three species of gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus) and three species of gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria. The extracts promoted inhibition of growth of bacteria, particularly of gram-negative bacteria with the species of brown algae Sargassum cymosum showing the best results (MIC = 1.56, 1.56 and 0.78 for the bacteria E. coli, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa, respectively). The extracts also showed bactericidal activity for Gram-positive bacteria with the species of red seaweed Hydropuntia caudata presenting the best results (MBC = 6.25 and 3.13 for B. subtilis and S. aureus, respectively). Our results suggest that antimicrobial compounds can be found in species of seaweeds.

Antimicrobial activity of extracts from seaweeds of northeast Brazil

251st National Meeting (2016)

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