Anticoagulant activity of marine green and brown algae collected from Jeju Island in Korea

Twenty-two algal species were evaluated for their potential anticoagulant activities. Hot water extracts from selected species, Codium fragile and Sargassum horneri showed high activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). Ultraflo extract of C. fragile and S. horneri exhibited the most potent anticoagulant activity. Furthermore, in both algal species, active compounds were mainly concentrated in >30 kDa faction. The crude polysaccharide fraction (>30 kDa; CpoF) of C. fragile composed of 80% carbohydrate and 19% of protein; the crude polysaccharide fraction (>30 kDa; CpoF) of S. horneri was composed of 97% of carbohydrate and 2% of protein. Therefore, most probably the active compound, or compounds of the algal species were related to high molecular weight polysaccharide, or a complex form with carbohydrate and protein (proteoglycan).