High Value-Added Biomolecules from Beach Waste of Marine Origin- Screening for Potential Candidates among Seagrass of the Cymodoceaceae Family

Method: Six species of seagrass belonging to the genera Syringodium, Cymodocea and Halodule were collected from their native habitat. The L-chiro-inositol content of the crude aqueous extracts prepared from different batches of Cymodocea nodosa flotsam was measured by quantitative H-NMR spectroscopy. High concentrations were found with values ranging from 22.2 to 35.0 mg.g plant dw. The presence of L-chiro-inositol in the tropical species C. rotundata, C. serrulata, Syringodium isoetifolium, and Halodule pinifolia was also characterized by qualitative NMR. The chicoric acid content of crude aqueous methanolic extracts prepared from C. rotundata, C. serrulata, S. isoetifolium, and Halodule pinifolia was determined by quantitative HPLC-DAD. The values found ranged from 0.39 to 6.15 mg.g dry weight. Chicoric acid was unambiguously identified as the major phenolic in S. isoetifolium, and Halodule pinifolia, while it was found in mixture with flavonol derivatives in C. rotundata and C. serrulata. Flavonol derivatives are also of interest for their bioactivity.