Antioxidant activity of extracts of two species of Sea Cucumber Holothuria parva and Holothuria leucospilota from the Persian Gulf, Iran

Marine animals are among the most important sources of natural products with biological activities because of their secondary metabolites. Many compounds were extracted, purified, identified and studied for their antioxidant, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects from sea cucumber However, very few investigations are available on Persian Gulf sea cucumbers. The antioxidant activities of organic extracts (n-Hexan, Ethyl acetate and Methanol) from four organs of Holothuria parva and H. leucospilota in this study were tested. The results showed that methanolic extract of digestive tubule of H. parva contains the highest level of IC50 (369.64 µg/ml), while the lowest level was obtained from Ethyl acetate extract of digestive tubule of H. leucospilota (1451.35 µg/ml). n-Hexan extracts didn’t have any efficiency in scavenging of DPPH free radical. This study indicated that some form of antioxidant activities are present in the biologic extracts of Holothuria parva and H. leucospilota.