Isolation and antioxidant property of the extracellular polysaccharide from Rhodella reticulata

The extracellular polysaccharide from Rhodella reticulata was separated from the culture medium followed by concentration and ethanol precipitation, and purified by anion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow. This study compared the free radical-scavenging property and antioxidant activity with various treatments of crude extracellular polysaccharides of R. reticulata. The results showed that both the crude extracellular polysaccharide and deproteinized crude extracellular polysaccharide gave evidence of the free radical scavenging and antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner. The crude extracellular polysaccharide exhibited higher free radical scavenging capacity and better antioxidant activity than the various treatments of crude extracellular polysaccharide samples. The superoxide anion radical scavenging ability of various samples was significantly higher compared to standard antioxidant (alpha-tocopherol). These results indicate that the extracellular polysaccharide of R. reticulata is a potent natural antioxidant.