The Selective Extraction of Sulfoquinovosyldiacylglyceride from Spirulina

Abstract

Currently, the number of natural products isolated from marine organisms that have the potential for anti-HIV activity is increasing. Sulfoquinovosyldiacylglyceride (SQDG) is a bioactive compound found to exhibit anti-HIV activity and has been isolated from natural sources. This pharmaceutical compound can be extracted mostly from microalgae such as Caulerpa racemosa, Scytonema sp., Phormidium tenue as well as Spirulina platensis. This study focused on finding a suitable extraction technique in order to achieve a better yield of SQDG from different strains of Spirulina. Various organic solvents were used to extract SQDG from specific strains of Spirulina. SQDG identification was confirmed from the retention time of the standard using thin layer chromatography. The isolated active fraction was obtained using column chromatography and the concentration of SQDG isolated was quantified. From the extracted SQDG, it was clearly found that the various forms of solvent extraction expressed different classes of lipids. The lipid content obtained is varying based on different extraction methods were used as well as different forms of solvent were used.