Summary
Carotenoids are naturally occurring coloured pigments found commonly in plants and animals in nature. Marine animals and plants have been proven to be abundant sources of carotenoids. In the future, this study can be taken up to further characterize the starfish for its properties, and also isolate pure extracts of carotenoids to assess the biological properties. Antioxidant properties refer to the scavenging of free radicals (Reactive Oxygen Species or ROS) since there are different diseases like Cytotoxicity, Alzheimer’s Disease, Neurotoxicity etc. due to the accumulation of free radicals in the human body.The compound may be converted into an oral drug, for various purposes like dietary consumption of pure carotenes. This type of consumption is prescribed for patients who have less carotenoid content or the respective metabolite content in their system.They have anti-microbial and anti-biofilm activities against clinically active pathogens and can block the formation of bacterial biofilms.
Project Overview
Marine animals have been proven as a reliable source of many compounds such as proteins, fatty acids, carotenes, etc. Among these compounds, Carotenoids’ biological properties are crucial to biodiversity. A study on the presence of carotenoids in the red-knobbed starfish species, Protoreaster linckii has been carried out. A colourimetry analysis was performed with the sample. The values for lightness (L*), Red/Green Value (a*), and Blue/Yellow Value (b*) were obtained as 44.63 ± 1.61, 13.1883 ± 3.70 and 12.49 ± 2.25, respectively. These values mathematically quantified the pigment’s intensity. GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy) analysis was done with a methanol extract of the powdered sample to check the presence of carotenoids. A carotene compound, 4’-Apo-β-, psi-carotenoic acid, methyl ester was detected at the retention time of 47.671 mins. A bulk carotenoid extraction was performed for further quantitative analysis. Thin-layer chromatography was performed against a standard carotenoid using chloroform, methanol and acetone as the mobile phase. The Rf value of the standard was calculated to be 0.91 and that of the sample was 0.802 and 0.73. HPLC analysis was done and a clear, sharp peak was obtained at the retention time of 3.695 mins. The total carotenoid concentration in our sample was determined to be 0.296 mg/ml using a UV Spectrophotometer. Thus, the presence of carotenoids in the starfish sample was quantified and confirmed. These extracted carotenoids can be used to assess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, etc. characteristics. They may be used for applications that benefit people and the environment.
