Abstract

The crude water-soluble oligosaccharides, coded as TOS, VOS and BOS, were isolated from tunica, viscera and whole body of the ascidian Styela clava, which chemical and physical characteristics were determined by several chemical methods, as well as their antioxidant activities by various in vitro assay systems. TOS with the lowest yield had higher sulfate and uronic acid content than the other two samples. The EC50 of TOS, VOS and BOS were 6.32, 3.45 and 5.55 mg/mL against hydroxyl radical and 1.35, 0.77 and 0.90 mg/mL against DPPH radicals, respectively. VOS showed the highest antioxidant activities among three samples. The results indicated that crude oligosaccharide extracted from different parts of Styela clava had antioxidant activities, which could be explored as novel potential antioxidants. © 2011 IEEE.