Evaluation of Antibacterial and Antifungal Effects of Marine Algae (Gracilariaarcuata) of Chabahar Coasts, iran

Considering the increasing rate of drug-resistant strains among microorganisms, finding antimicrobial and antifungal compounds from natural materials, which certainly havefewer side-effects, has long been of interest to researchers. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate antibacterial and antifungal effects of ethanolic extract of red algae Gracilariaarcuata of Chabahar Coasts. After sampling, antimicrobial and antifungal effects of ethanolic extract of red algae Gracilariaarcuata against 5 bacterial strains of Proteus vulgaris, Vibrio cholera, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and one fungal species, Aspergillus flavus, were studied and the results were compared with standard antibiotics. Independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA were used for comparison between groups, and Duncan test was used to assess differences between means. V. cholera had the highest sensitivity to red algae with an inhibition zone diameter of 11.25±0.35, so that there was a statistically significant difference compared to commercial antibiotic neomycin (p<0.05). E. coli showed the highest resistance against ethanolic extract of the test algae. Red algae Gracilariaarcuata from Chabahar coasts has high antibacterial and antifungal properties.