Exploration of The Bioactive Compound Potential of Red Seaweed Eucheuma sp. Extract as An Antioxidant Agent

Abstract

Rhodophyta is rich of bioactive compounds that exhibit significant potential as natural antioxidants. The potential underscores the need for further investigation of Eucheuma sp. as a promising alternative source of natural antioxidants to mitigate oxidative stress, which is closely associated with various degenerative diseases. This study was conducted to determine the bioactive compounds in the extract of Eucheuma sp. from Ekas Bay, East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, and to identify the harvest time that produces highest antioxidant activity. Bioactive compounds present in Eucheuma sp. extracts were identified using Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC-HRMS), followed by analysis on the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) platform and Cytoscape visualization. Dereplication of compounds across different harvest times revealed 2 bioactive compounds, namely notatic acid (m/z 343.289 [M-H]) and cis-piceid (m/z 427.385 [M+K] + and m/z 427.393 [M+K] + ) that identified as having potential as antioxidants and were produced on the zero and forty-fifth day of harvest time. The highest production of antioxidant compounds was found on the zero day of harvest with the detection of notatic acid (m/z 343.289 [M-H]) and cis-piceid (m/z 427.385 [M+K] + ). The content of antioxidants in these compounds has the potential to inhibit diseases related to oxidative stress.