Evaluation of antioxidant and anti-obesity potential of Sargassum extracts

Sargassum are brown algae belonging to the class Phaeophyceae . Brown algae are rich in nutrients and widely used in food. Most previous experiments have focused on the functional evaluation of organic solvent extracts of Sargassum . Considering food safety, this study investigated the antioxidant and antiobesity activities of Sargassum hemiphyllum water extract (SE). The antioxidant activity of SE (500–4000 mg/mL) was determined in vitro. The results indicated that SE has good DPPH radical scavenging activity (14–74%), reducing power (20–78%), ABTS + radical scavenging activity (8–91%), and Fe 2+ chelating ability (5–25%). Furthermore, the antiobesity activity of SE (50–300 mg/mL) was analysed in a 3T3-L1 adipocyte model. SE effectively inhibited lipid accumulation (determined by methods including measuring the absorbance of Oil red O after staining and the triglyceride content, which were decreased by 10% and 20%, respectively) by reducing peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) protein expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. This study suggested that SE has good antioxidant and antiobesity properties.