Sargassum brown seaweed is reported to exhibit several biological activities which promote human health, such as anticancer, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activity. This study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of crude lipid extracts of Sargassum ilicifolium obtained from four different coastal areas in Indonesia, namely Awur Bay-Jepara (AB), Pari Island-Seribu Islands (PI), Sayang Heulang Beach-Garut (SHB), and Ujung Genteng Beach-Sukabumi (UGB). Results showed that treatment of RAW 264.7 macrophage cells with UGB and AB crude lipid extracts (12.5-50 µg/mL) significantly suppressed the nitric oxide production after lipopolysaccharide stimulation, both in pre-incubated and co-incubated cell culture model. The anti-inflammatory effect was most marked in the pre-incubated cell culture model. Both two crude lipid extracts showed 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and high ferric reducing antioxidant power, which were amounted to 36.93-37.87 µmol Trolox equivalent/g lipid extract and 681.58-969.81 µmol FeSO4/g lipid extract, respectively. From this study, we can conclude that crude lipid extract of tropical S. ilicifolium can be further developed as a source of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent.
Keywords: Sargassum ilicifolium; anti-inflammatory; antioxidant; coastal area; crude lipid extract.