In recent years, a significant number of novel metabolites with potent pharmacological properties (antioxidant, antitumor, anti-HIV etc.) have been discovered from the marine organisms. Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty). Being an invasive in the Gulf of Mannar after 2000 AD, has high content of steroid, phenol etc., this work was the first report of its medical application. The present study investi...

The red alga Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty ex P.C. Silva, 1996) has been intentionally introduced throughout the tropics for mariculture. In some cases, the alga has spread outside cultivation sites and impacts native biota. We conducted surveys of two sites in Bocas del Toro, Panama, where non-native K. alvarezii was previously cultivated to determine whether it is established and began to exami...

The seaweeds are economically valuable resources, used as food, fodder, fertilizer and medicine and thus useful to mankind in many ways. In the present study, Kappaphycus alvarezii, a marine alga, has been analysed for the presence of bioactive products using three solvent extracts. Antimicrobial activity was also done using the same extracts of seaweed. The results revealed that the selected s...

Received 19/4/2012 Accepted 9/8/2012 (005680) 1 Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – UFSC, Rod. Admar Gonzaga, 1346, Itacorubi, CEP 88034-001, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil, e-mail: [email protected] *Corresponding author Optimization of the extraction of carrageenan from Kappaphycus alvarezii using response surfa...

The systematics and taxonomy of Kappaphycus and Eucheuma (Solieriaceae) is confused and difficult due to morphological plasticity, lack of adequate characters to identify species and commercial names of convenience. These taxa are geographically widely dispersed through cultivation. Commercial, wild and herbarium sources were analysed; molecular markers provided insights into taxonomy and genet...

For many years marine algae has been subject of numerous researches and as a source of natural products with antiviral activity, such as terpenes, alkaloids and sulphated polysaccharides. However, the anti-Zika virus (ZIKV) potential of algae has not been studied. In this study we evaluated extracts seven species of the three major classes of seaweeds (Phaeophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Rhodophyce...

Photosystem II photochemistry and phycobiliprotein (PBP) genes of red algae Kappaphycus alvarezii, raw material of κ -carrageenan used in food and pharmaceutical industries, were analyzed in this study. Minimum saturating irradiance (I k) of this algal species was less than 115 μmol m(-2) s(-1). Its actual PSII efficiency (yield II) increased when light intensity enhanced and decreased when lig...

The productivity of two species of red algae, namely Eucheuma denticulatum (Burman) Collins et Harvey and Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) Doty was investigated at Paje and Uroa, two sites in Zanzibar differing in seagrass cover. The growth rate (GR) of E. denticulatum in Paje (low seagrass cover) was 20–75% lower than in Uroa (high seagrass cover), depending on season. Growth of K. alvarezii in Pa...

Under biotic/abiotic stresses, the red alga Kappaphycus alvarezii reportedly releases massive amounts of H(2)O(2) into the surrounding seawater. As an essential redox signal, the role of chloroplast-originated H(2)O(2) in the orchestration of overall antioxidant responses in algal species has thus been questioned. This work purported to study the kinetic decay profiles of the redox-sensitive pl...

The red seaweed, Kappaphycus alvarezii, was evaluated for its potential to prevent signs of metabolic syndrome through use as a whole food supplement. Major biochemical components of dried Kappaphycus are carrageenan (soluble fiber ~34.6%) and salt (predominantly potassium (K) 20%) with a low overall energy content for whole seaweed. Eight to nine week old male Wistar rats were randomly divided...