The present study investigates the presence of phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of two selected seaweeds (SW) from Tamil Nadu, India. The SW studied were brown seaweed Sargassum fusiforme (SF) and green seaweed Ulva lactuca (UL). The phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of SWs were carried out using standard methods in eight extracts made in four different solvents for each SW namely, water, acetone, ethanol and methanol. All the results were analysed using statistical software. All eight extracts showed the presence of carbohydrates tannins and phenols while alkaloids and cardiac glycosides were absent in all extracts. Total phenol and antioxidant study shows that maximum amount of total phenols and antioxidants were present in methanol extracts of SF followed by UL except for FRAP assay in which case methanol extract of UL has higher FRAP activity than methanol extract of SF although the difference was not significant. Results shows that seaweeds are rich source of bioactive compounds and antioxidants thus can be used as therapeutic products.
