Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the nonmutagenic and antimutagenic properties of the different carotenoids from the selected green algae Chlorococcum humicola (C. humicola) using Ames mutagenicity assay. Methods: Antimutagenicity of fresh water green algae C. humicola was tested using its carotenoid extract. From the crude carotenoid extract, the different carotenoids were fractionated by column chromatography and further identified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In the in vitro antimutagenicity assay the total and individual carotenoids were used to check the nonmutagenicity and antimutagenicity effect using the strains of Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium) TA98, TA100 and TA102 with and without metabolic activation. The in vivo antimutagenic studies were carried out using animal model. Results: The results showed that the selected green algae were rich in carotenoids. In the crude carotenoid extract, astaxanthin, lutein and 毬 -carotene were found to be the major concentration. 毩 -carotene, zeaxanthin and violaxanthin were also found to be present. In the in vitro antimutagenic assay, the total carotenoids showed the maximum inhibition (P<0.001) against all three selected strains of S. typhimurium with and without metabolic activation. In the separated carotenoids, astaxanthin, lutein and 毬 -carotene showed significant mutational inhibition and exhibited good antitumor activity in the presence of S9 fraction. For direct acting mutagens sodium azide, ethidium bromide and hydroxyl amine with the specified concentration, the total carotenoids gave 63%, 60%, 66% inhibition for TA98, TA100 and TA102, respectively. In vivo antimutagenic assay was also confirmed the effective antimutagenic activity of total and separated carotenoids. The results also confirmed that the total and individual carotenoids had no mutagenic activity. Conclusions: The overall findings of the present study conclude that the green algae C. humicola possess higher concentration of bioactive carotenoids having antimutagenic activity, therefore, it can be used as a chemopreventive agent.

Authors and Affiliations