Princely Ebenezer Gnanakani¹, Perumal Santhanam², Kilari Eswar Kumar³, Magharla Dasaratha Dhanaraju^4
1Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Research Scholar, JNTUK, Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
²Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.
³Department of Pharmacology, AU College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
⁴Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Research Scholar, JNTUK, Vishakhapatnam; Department of Pharmaceutics, Principal and Research Director, GIET School of Pharmacy, Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India.
DOI: 10.4103/jnsbm.JNSBM_208_18

ABSTRACT

Context: Screening of natural biomolecules from microalgae. Background: The microalgae were recognized for their biological and pharmacological importance of active natural products with high antioxidant and antiproliferative profile. In the preliminary screening, three species Nannochloropsis sp. (NC) (green algae), Amphora sp. (diatom), and Nostoc sp. (blue-green algae) were tested and Nannochloropsis was selected based on their scavenging properties. Objective: The objective of the study is to explore the biological information of microalgal species where the clinical investigation is still quite limited. Materials and Methods: The phytochemical screening of selected NC. primarily comprises saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids, and phenols which were confirmed by high-performance thin-layer chromatography, Fourier transform infrared, and gas chromatography–mass spectra analysis. Results: The ethyl acetate extract Nannochloropsis hexane (EAENH) fraction showed 40.61 mg GAE/g, 68.77 mg QE/g, 5.73 mg/g, and 57.38 mg CHL/g for total phenolic, flavonoid, carotenoid, and sterol content, respectively. Moreover, antioxidant activities were evaluated for the extract showing high flavonoid and phenolic contents after partial purification with hexane. The half inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values for EAENH was found to be 13.9, 21.22, and 14.58 μg/mL for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical, hydrogen peroxide, and reducing power assays, respectively. The antiproliferative activity of EAENH on human non-small lung cancer cell line (A549) IC₅₀ value was 175 μg/mL using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Conclusion: The present study confirmed that the bioactive components present in the EAENH were accountable for excellent antioxidant and cytotoxic properties.

Keywords: Antioxidant, cytotoxic, gas chromatography–mass spectra, high-performance thin-layer chromatography, Nannochloropsis.