Antibacterial Activity of Sargassum Species Seaweed Extracts against E. coli

Introduction: Seaweeds are marine macroscopic algae; they are the raw materials for the production of agar and algin and later they are consumed as foodstuffs. Seaweeds are grouped under three divisions viz., Chlorophyceae, Phaeophyceae, and Rhodophyceae which are found in relatively shallow coastal waters. Sargassum, a genus of brown seaweed, and it was commonly known as gulfweed belonging to the family Sargassaceae. The antibacterial activity of a molecule is completely associated with compounds that kill bacteria or slow down their growth rate, without being highly toxic to nearby tissues. The main aim of the study is to prepare and evaluate the potential antibacterial activity of Sargassum species seaweed extract against E. coli.

Materials and Methods: The fresh seaweed Sargassum sp. was collected from Tuticorin coastal area, Tamil Nadu. The extract was prepared using ethanol and stored in a shadowy aluminum container at 4ºC for further analysis. The bacterial suspension was made using Gram-negative Drug-resistant Escherichia coli, Uropathogenic E. coli, and Verotoxin-producing E. coli. The antibacterial activity of seaweed extract was performed with a disc diffusion method. Minimal Inhibitory Concentration of seaweed extract was observed.

Results: The data was collected and tabulated and the bioactivity of the seaweed extracts was expressed as minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The antibacterial activity against the selected isolated E. coli, UPEC and VPEC was more susceptible to the crude extract of the seaweed (Sargassum sp.), as the MIC was 20 µg/ml. The extract showed the antibacterial activity.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that Sargassum sp. Seaweed has antibacterial potential. Further future work should be done to determine the exact active compounds responsible for activity