Extraction, isolation and identification of flavonoids in Holothuria leucospilota

Sea cucumber is one of the most important marine invertebrates with many properties, including antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant, anticancer. These properties are attributed to important compounds such as flavonoids, glycoltropenoids, chondroitin sulfate, amino-glycolic glucose, and fatty acids. The present study was conducted to extract, isolate, and identify flavonoids from Holothuria leucospilota species of sea cucumber. Samples of the H. leucospilota species of sea cucumber were collected from Hengam Island in Persian Gulf, and once dried, the extract was obtained from their powder. The extraction process involved soaking in 70% methanol solution, filtering with Whatman paper filter, and isolation of the extract in a rotary device. The flavonoids were isolated from the pure extract using silica gel column. The presence of flavonoids in isolated fractions was examined using Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC) and Gas Chromatography (GC-Mass) techniques. The color change to dark purple in TLC indicated the presence of flavonoids in the H. leucospilota species of sea cucumber. Then, the presence of flavonoids in samples was identified and confirmed through GC-Mass technique. The dry fraction contained 37.47mg of flavonoids. The present study results showed that H. leucospilota species of sea cucumber is a rich source of Flavylium type of flavonoids, and its antioxidant and anti-radical properties can be examined as a source of medication and food.