ABSTRACT:
Seaweeds are part of the sustainable marine resources which has high therapeutic value. Several dietary fibers and compounds extracted from seaweeds implement diverse spectrum of functions such as antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, antimutagenic, anticoagulant, antitumor, antilarvicidal, antihelminthic etc.Seaweeds endure as the budding resource in marine environment and it possesses enormous significance in drug development. In the present study, the phytochemical characteristics of few selected seaweeds were investigated to find out the presence of phytochemical constituents in Dictyotadichotomaand Halimedamacroloba. The seaweeds selected in the present study were collected from Rameshwaram, Ramanathapuram district, Tamilnadu, India and stores in a sterile plastic container at room temperature. These samples were extracted with various solvents viz., aqueous, methanol, diethyl ether, chloroform and acetone. From the phytochemical screening, it was observed that the methanol extract of the seaweeds Dictyotadichotomaand Halimedamacroloba revealed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, steroids, tannins, phenols, terpenoids, glycosides, saponins, volatile oils and quinone (except protein) followed by other solvent extracts. The highest DPPH radical scavenging property was noticed in aqueous extracts of Halimedamacroloba and Dictyotadichotomatrailed by methanolic extracts ofDictyotadichotoma than the other solvent extracts.