In vitro anticancer, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of crude extract prepared from Enteromorpha intestinalis habited in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The recent study purposes to evaluate the biological activities of Enteromorpha intestinalis gathered from Jeddah coastal area, Saudi Arabia, with respect to its phytochemical components. Our results indicated that the values ​​of moisture content, ash, total organic matter, total proteins, total lipids and total carbohydrates were 34.25 ± 5.6 %, 40.70 ± 2.3 %, 25.05 ± 1.73 %, 14.39 ± 0.8 %, 4.86 ± 6.9 % and 2.81 ± 1.4 %, respectively. The data also showed that the total phenols and flavonoids were 345.04 ± 1.50 and 320.67 ± 0.92 mg/g in the dried sample, respectively. Furthermore, four compounds were detected by HPLC at very low concentrations (quinic acid, ellagic acid, cinnamic acid, and phenanthrene) and flavonoids data confirmed the presence of apeginin, rudin, diosmin, and quercilin at high concentrations of 141.26, 11.42, 121.75, and 145.28. mg/g, respectively. The crude extract of Enteromorpha intestinalis exhibited cytotoxicity toward hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG-2 cell line) using an MTT assay with concentration range between 2 and 500 µg/mL for 48 h with IC_{50 =} 40.02 ± 3.94 µg/mL. Evidently, the Enteromorpha intestinalis extract had Hepatoprotective activity with IC₅₀ = 447.31 ± 14.59 μg/mL. The IC₅₀ activity of a crude methanol extract of Enteromorpha intestinalis was compared with that of an antioxidant drug (Torolox). The value (98.82 ± 1.30 μg/mL) was recorded close to Torolox (62.4 ± 0.70 μg/mL). This extract also possessed moderate antibacterial activity with inhibition zones ranging between 10 mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa to 16 mm against Escherichia coli. Green seaweed, along with other types of seaweed, has received significant attention in recent years. Despite their potential benefits, green seaweeds are underutilized in many parts of the world. Extensive studies on different green seaweed isolates and extracts are necessary.