Studies on free radical scavenging activity in Chinese seaweeds part I. Screening results

Antioxidants have attracted the attention of researchers due to their beneficial effects as free radical scavengers. Application of a stable free radical named 1,1 diphenyl 2 picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) to screen the free radical scavenging activity in 27 species of Chinese seaweed showed that 15 of them had significant activity in at least one of the organic solvent extracts. The most interesting seaweed species were Gelidium amansii, Gloiosiphonia capillaris, Polysiphonia urceolata, Sargassum kjellmanianum, Desmarestia viridis, and Rhodomela teres.