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Antioxidant activity of different molecular weight sulfated polysaccharides from Ulva pertusa Kjellm (Chlorophyta)

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Abstract

Polysaccharides extracted from Ulva pertusa Kjellm (Chlorophyta) are a group of sulfated heteropolysaccharides, the ulvans. In this study, different molecular weight ulvans were prepared by H2O2 degradation and their antioxidant activities investigated including superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, reducing power and metal chelating ability. The molecular weights of natural and degraded ulvans were 151.7, 64.5, 58.0, and 28.2 kDa, respectively, as determined by high performance gel permeation chromatography. Among the four samples, U3 (the lowest molecular weight sample) showed significant inhibitory effects on superoxide and hydroxyl radicals with IC50 values of 22.1 μ g mL−1 and 2.8 mg mL−1; its reducing power and metal chelating ability were also the strongest among the four samples. All the other samples also demonstrated strong activity against superoxide radicals. The results indicated that molecular weight had a significant effect on the antioxidant activity of ulvan with low molecular weight ulvan having stronger antioxidant activity.

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Abbreviations

U:

polysaccharide extracted from U. pertusa (ulvan, Mw, 151.7 kDa)

U1 :

degraded ulvan of molecular weight 64.5 kDa

U2 :

degraded ulvan of molecular weight 58.0 kDa

U3 :

degraded ulvan of molecular weight 28.2 kDa

NBT:

nitro blue tetrazolium

PMS:

phenazine methosulfate

NADH:

nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-reduced

EDTA:

ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid

TCA:

trichloroacetic acid

TBA:

thiobarbituric acid

DR:

deoxyribose

HPGPC:

high performance gel permeation chromatography

GC:

gas liquid chromatography

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, P.R.China

    Huimin Qi, Tingting Zhao, Quanbin Zhang, Zhien Li, Zengqin Zhao & Ronge Xing

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, P.R. China

    Huimin Qi, Tingting Zhao, Zengqin Zhao & Ronge Xing

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  1. Huimin Qi
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  2. Tingting Zhao
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  3. Quanbin Zhang
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  4. Zhien Li
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  5. Zengqin Zhao
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  6. Ronge Xing
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Correspondence to Quanbin Zhang.

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Qi, H., Zhao, T., Zhang, Q. et al. Antioxidant activity of different molecular weight sulfated polysaccharides from Ulva pertusa Kjellm (Chlorophyta). J Appl Phycol 17, 527–534 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-005-9003-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-005-9003-9

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