Phytochemical Profile, Antioxidant Activity and Cell Line Study of Marine Red Macroalgae Eucheuma cottonii on Lung A-549 Cancer Cells

Introduction: In this century, cancer has increased in incidence and become one of the deadliest disease in the world. However, to date, lung cancer treatments are still not fully effective, quite expensive and very exhaustive for the patient. Eucheuma cottonii is an abundant marine red macroalgae in Indonesia which have a potential anti-lung cancer properties. Aim of this research is to determine phytochemical profile of Eucheuma cottonii extracts, as well as to evaluate its antioxidant and cytotoxic effects on Lung A-549 cancer cells. Methods: Eucheuma cottonii obtained from Sorong beach, West Papua Province, Indonesia, were extracted with three different solvents, that is ethanol, ethylacetate, and n-hexane. These three Eucheuma cottonii extracts were identified for its phytochemical profiles, antioxidant activity by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay, and cytotoxic activity on lung A-549 cells by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Results: Phytochemical analysis revealed that Eucheuma cottonii contains metabolites of triterpenoid and alkaloid. Antioxidant activity evaluation showed ethanol extract of Eucheuma cottonii has IC₅₀ value of 559.76 μg/mL against DPPH free radical. Whereas cytotoxicity evaluation showed that ethanol extract and ethylacetate extract of Eucheuma cottonii have cytotoxic effects on Lung A-549 cancer cells, with IC₅₀ value of 251.73 μg/ mL and 261.41 μg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: These results suggesting that Eucheuma cottonii extract could be further developed as a natural anti-lung cancer agent.