Table Of ContentANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL COMPOUNDS 
FROM THE MARINE ALGAE PADINA ANTILLARUM 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CHIA POOI YEE 
 
 
 
 
 
MASTER OF SCIENCE  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FACULTY OF SCIENCE 
UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN 
DECEMBER 2010
ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL COMPOUNDS 
CHIA POOI YEE                                                                                                                           
2010 
FROM THE MARINE ALGAE PADINA ANTILLARUM
ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL COMPOUNDS FROM THE 
MARINE ALGAE Padina antillarum 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
By 
 
 
CHIA POOI YEE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A thesis submitted to the Department of Chemical Science, 
Faculty of Science, 
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, 
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of 
Master of Science 
December 2010
ABSTRACT 
 
 
ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL COMPOUNDS FROM THE 
MARINE ALGAE Padina antillarum 
 
 
Chia Pooi Yee 
 
 
The antioxidant property and antimicrobial activity of extracts of the 
brown  marine  algae  Padina  antillarum  were  studied.  Different  extraction 
methods  were  applied  in  order  to  extract  antioxidant  and  antimicrobial 
compounds.  For  the  purpose  of  extracting  antioxidant  compounds,  a  50% 
aqueous methanol extract of freeze-dried P. antillarum was subjected to liquid-
liquid partitioning. The three extracts (chloroform, ethyl acetate and water) 
which were obtained from partitioning were subjected to total phenolic content 
and radical scavenging activity assays. The ethyl acetate extract showed the 
highest antioxidant activity and was subjected to activity-guided fractionation. 
Instrumental analyses (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer, 1H-and 13C-
Nuclear  Magnetic  Resonance  Spectrometer)  revealed  the  presence  of 
phloroglucinol  (1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene)  in  this  extract.  The  radical 
scavenging  activity  of  phloroglucinol  was  compared to that of  the  known 
antioxidant plant compounds, quercetin, ascorbic acid and tannic acid, and was 
found to be weakest of the four in terms of free radical scavenging, ferric 
reducing antioxidant power and chelating ability. Phloroglucinol  had weak 
activity against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), Bacillus cereus (ATCC 
11778),  Pseudomonas  aeruginosa  (ATCC  27853),  Klebsiella  pneumoniae 
(ATCC 13883), and Escherichia coli [both penicillin-sensitive (ATCC 25922) 
and penicillin-resistant strains (ATCC 35218)]. Phloroglucinol had no activity 
ii
towards leukemia cells (K562 cell line) and no detectable antifungal activity. 
For extraction of antimicrobial compound, freeze-dried P. antillarum sample 
was subjected to sequential extraction using organic solvents of  increasing 
polarity  (i.e.  hexane  followed  by  diethyl  ether,  chloroform,  ethyl  acetate, 
acetone, methanol and finally water). The hexane extract exhibited the highest 
and  most consistent  inhibitory activity against P. aeruginosa  with a  mean 
minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC, n=3) value of 0.625 mg/mL. Thus 
this extract was selected for further in vitro bioassay-guided fractionation. The 
structure of the partially-purified antimicrobial compound, which had a mean 
MIC of 0.031 mg/mL, was elucidated by GC-MS, and found to be diisooctyl 
phthalate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 
 
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my 
supervisor, Dr. Khoo Kong Soo and co-supervisor, Dr. Sit Nam Weng for their 
guidance, opinion and advice throughout the completion of this project. 
 
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Lim Yau Yan from 
Monash University who guided me for the antioxidant assays. Unforgettably, I 
also thank to UTAR lab assistants for providing apparatus and chemicals for 
my project. I sincerely thank to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman for providing 
Research Grant 6202/C06. 
 
Big  thanks  to  my  partner,  Ms.  Lim  Fei  Shen  for  providing  useful 
information to me. I would like to show my special thanks to my family and 
fellow friends for their support. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
iv
DECLARATION 
 
 
 
 
I  hereby  declare  that  the  thesis  is  based  on  my  original  work  except  for 
quotations and citations which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare 
that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted for any other degree 
at UTAR or other institutions. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
             
Name ____________________________ 
 
 
             
Date _____________________________ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
v
APPROVAL SHEET 
 
 
This  thesis  entitled  “ANTIOXIDANT  AND  ANTIMICROBIAL 
COMPOUNDS FROM THE MARINE ALGAE PADINA ANTILLARUM” 
was prepared by CHIA POOI YEE and submitted as partial fulfillment of the 
requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Universiti Tunku Abdul 
Rahman.   
 
 
Approved by: 
 
 
 
___________________________ 
(Assoc. Prof. Dr.KHOO KONG SOO)    Date:…………………..  
Supervisor 
Department of Chemical Science 
Faculty of Science 
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman 
 
 
 
___________________________ 
(Assist. Prof. Dr. SIT NAM WENG)     Date:…………………..      
Co-supervisor 
Department of Biomedical Science 
Faculty of Science 
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
vi
FACULTY OF SCIENCE 
UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN 
 
 
Date: 
 
 
PERMISSION SHEET 
 
 
It is  hereby  certified that CHIA  POOI  YEE  (ID No: 07UEM08778) has 
completed this thesis entitled  “  ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL 
COMPOUNDS  FROM  MARINE  ALGAE  PADINA  ANTILLARUM”  under 
supervision  of  Assoc.  Prof.  Dr.  Khoo  Kong  Soo  (Supervisor)  from  the 
Department of Chemical Science, Faculty of Science, and Assist. Prof. Dr. Sit 
Nam Weng (Co-supervisor) from Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty 
of Science. 
 
 
I hereby give permission to the University to upload softcopy of my thesis in 
pdf format into UTAR Institutional Repository, which will be made accessible 
to UTAR community and public. 
 
 
 
Yours truly, 
 
 
____________________ 
(CHIA POOI YEE) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 
  Page 
 
 
ABSTRACT  ii 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS             iv 
DECLARATION                v 
APPROVAL SHEET              vi 
PERMISSION SHEET              vii 
TABLES OF CONTENTS              viii 
LIST OF TABLES                xii 
LIST OF FIGURES               xv 
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS  xix 
 
 
CHAPTER 
 
1.0  INTRODUCTION   
1.1  Natural Products  1 
1.2  Marine Natural Products  1 
1.3  Seaweeds  3 
1.4  Antioxidant  4 
1.5  Antimicrobial Compounds  6 
1.6  Hypothesis  7 
1.7  Objectives  7 
 
 
2.0  LITERATURE REVIEW 
2.1  Bioactive Marine Natural Products  9 
2.1.1  Phenols   10 
2.1.2  Terpenes and Terpenoids  11 
2.1.3  Steroids   13 
2.1.4  Alkaloids   15 
2.2  Seaweeds  17 
2.2.1  Classification of Seaweeds  18 
2.2.2  Uses of Seaweeds  19 
2.3  Oxidative Stress   21 
2.4  Free Radicals  22 
2.5  Antioxidants  24 
2.5.1  Natural and Synthetic Antioxidants    26 
2.6  Classification of Medically Important Bacteria  29 
2.7  The Action of Antimicrobial Drugs        31 
2.8  Previous Research on Padina antillarum     32 
 
 
3.0  MATERIALS AND METHODS 
3.1  Sample Collection and Preparation  34 
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Description:1.4. Antioxidant. 4. 1.5. Antimicrobial Compounds. 6. 1.6. Hypothesis. 7. 1.7 .. Simple phenols are bioactive compounds consisting of a single .. freeze-dried using a freeze-dryer (Model: Martin Christ, Alpha 1-4, LD plus).