Antibacterial activities and bioactive compounds of the ethyl acetate extract of the sea cucumber<i>Holothuria forskali</i>from Tunisian coasts
Khaoula Telahigue, Ridha Ghali, Ezzeddine Nouiri, Abdelbaki Labidi, Tarek Hajji
Abstract
Abstract Previous scientific studies have listed chemical compounds from sea cucumber species. The ability to produce bioactive metabolites derives from their response to various ecological stresses and avoidance of predation. In view of this, the present work aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activity and quantitatively assess the active components of different organs of the sea cucumber Holothuria foskali collected from the north-east of Tunisia. The antibacterial activity of ethyl acetate extracts was tested against Bacillus subtilis , Bacillus cereus , Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . It was revealed that Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis were inhibited by the sea cucumber extracts. To identify the composition of these extracts, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (LC-MS) methods were used. The GC-MS revealed the presence of 25 major components, the most concentrated ones were characterized as C 26 H 27 N 5 O 6 Morphinan-4,5-epoxy-3,6-diol, 6 amino;C 17 H 31 F 3 O 2 3-trifluoroacetoxypentadecane; C 31 H 50 O 2 Stigmasta-5,22-dien-3-ol,acetate; C 11 H 14 O 2 1-Phthalanol,1,3,3-trimethyl 1-phenyl; C 30 H 48 O 2 Ergosta-5,22-dien-3-ol,acetate and C 25 H 40 O 2 (9E)-8-Phenyl-9-octadecenoic acid methyl ester; while the LC-MS revealed the presence of eight molecules, identified as phenolic acid, phytosterol and fat-soluble vitamins. Some molecules are interesting and deserve to be explored for their potential uses as ingredients in functional foods or as raw materials for new drug forms.