Antioxidative activities in some common seaweeds.

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