STUDIES ON ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF MARINE SEAWEEDS Ulva reticulate AND Ulva lactuca

The bacterial cultures viz., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio cholera, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter aerogenes and the fungal cultures viz., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata and Saccharomces cetevisiae were procured rom MTCC, Chandigarh. The highest mean zone of inhibition was observed methanol extract of Ulva lactuca against all tested bacterial and fungal pathogens when compared to Ulva reticulate and maximum antioxidant activity also observed. The GC-MS study revealed the presence of nine different bioactive components viz., Hexadecanem 1,10-Decanediol, 2-Hepatone, 5-methyl, 2,4-Dimethylcyclopentanol, Pentanal, 2- methyl, S(2,-3S)-(-)-3-Propyloxiranemethanol, 3,4-Hexanediol, 2,5-dimethyl-, Octanem 3,4,5,6-tetramethyl-and Diazoprogesterone. Their results showed the use of Seaweeds as antimicrobial agents for pharmacology or as a health promoting food for aquaculture. The screening results confirmed that these Seaweeds can be further studied and used as possible source of antimicrobial compounds.