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Abstract

Methanolic (MeOH) extract of Chara corallina var. wallichii (A. Br.) R. D. Wood has been analysed for its fatty acid and sterol compositions. Using GC-MS technique 23 fatty acids viz., 7 saturated, 6 monoenoic, 5 dienoic and 5 trienoic acids were identified as methyl esters, where 63.5 % were unsaturated and 36.5 % as saturated acids. With the exception of heptanoic and pentacosenoic, the acids ranged from C 10 to C18; longer-chain and polyunsaturated acids beyond trienoic ones were not detected. Hexadecadienoic acid occurred in greatest amount (23.7%), and pentadecylic and palmitic acids appeared to be the major saturated acids. Besides, 4 sterols have been identified by spectroscopic techniques, where ß-sitosterol was 76.8 % while cholesterol, c1erosterol and stigmasterol were 6.4-8.7 %. The alga resembled in certain characters of fatty acid and sterol compositions with cWorophytes and in others with higher plants. The MeOH extract, its EtOAc-soluble part and four isolated sterols showed bioactivity against 10 species of bacteria and 10 species of fungi and phytotoxicity against Lernna minor. ß-Sitosterol was least active in its bioactivity as well as phytotoxicity.

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