Vol. 7, Issue 6 (2018)

Author(s):
Pande J, Dhanki A, Padalia H and Chanda S

Abstract:
Sargassum wightii belonging to the family Sargassaceae and Padina gymnospora belonging to the family Dictyotaceae are two brown seaweeds known for various biological activities like antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti cancer, anti-inflammatory, etc. The reported biological activities may be because of the phytoconstituents present in them. Considering their therapeutic uses, like other medicinal plants there is a need to do pharmacognostic studies of these two seaweeds. In the present work, an attempt was done to evaluate the pharmacognostic, phytochemical and physicochemical profile of S. wightii and P. gymnospora. In pharmacognostic studies, macroscopic and microscopic studies were done which revealed their characteristic features. The phytochemcial analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids and glycosides while solvent extracts revealed the presence of flavonoids also. On the whole, P. gymnospora had more presence of phytochemicals than S. wightii. The extractive values of methanol extract and aqueous extract were maximum in both the seaweeds but were considerably more in P. gymnopora than S. wightii. The parameters evaluated in this study will be useful to maintain the identity and efficacy of these seaweeds and also prevent it from adulteration.