Determination of Antioxidant activities of two red algae (Hypnea hamulosa and Gracilaria corticata) from Persian Gulf

Nowadays, replacement of the synthetic antioxidants by natural ones has been noticed in the food industry. Seaweeds with rich sources of antioxidant compounds will be excellent choice for this purpose. In the study Effect of the use of water and different organic solvents such as acetone, ethanol and methanol 50% on the total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity was studied for two species of red algae Hypnea hamulosa and Gracilaria corticata of Persian Gulf. Extraction was performed using conventional solvent extraction method and the ratio of 1:20 algae: solvent. The results indicated that acetone extracts (50%) had the highest values in the total phenol contents (0.31 mg tannic acid / g algal powder), ferric reducing antioxidant power (0.06 mg tannic acid / g algal powder), DPPH radical scavenging activity 76.11% (p 0.05). Comparison of two algal species showed that in all factors except total antioxidant activity, algal species Gracilaria corticata had a higher antioxidant activity (p