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Online ISSN : 2349-8080 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorinchiefijcrbp@gmail.com |
Live beings have shields against oxidative damage from reactive oxygen (ROS). These shields are the antioxidant systems and can be enzymatic or non-enzymatic. The phycobiliproteins are part of the non-enzymatic systems and they are water soluble photosynthetic pigments found in cyanobacteria and red algae. They can scavenge free radicals. Phycobiliprotein extract from seaweed Dermonema virens was performed macerating it in liquid N2, then the biomass was suspended in water and centrifuged, and finally the supernatant spectrophotometrically characterized. Lactuca sativa seeds were exposed to three different media to evaluate germination and elongation of the radicle and hypocotyl. A high concentration of phycoerythrin was found, with an absorption peak at 550 nm. In trials with water, 4-6 cm growth in radicle and hypocotyl was obtained, while the ROS caused necrosis in the radicle and reached just 10% of germination. Testing the extract in the presence of ROS, seed germination was at 90% and radicle from 1 to 3 cm. It is concluded that the extract has antioxidant activity that protects lettuce seeds from oxidative damage from ROS.
