Green caviar is a high class ingredient in Okinawa, Japan and Philippine. It becomes a new and developing economic aquaculture species in Taiwan in recent years. Previous studies revealed that the polysaccharide extracted from Caulerpa lentillifera is effective in tumor suppression, anti-oxidation, anticancer, healing hyperglycemia, and preventing cardiovascular disease. In this study, we aimed to utilize the Caulerpa lentillifera cultivated in Penghu to establish related research data for attempting to develop new health care materials and products.
In Ames tests, we found that Caulerpa lentillifera extract (hereinafter referred to as CLW) was not mutagenic within the dose range of 1~5 mg/plate, either with or without S9-mix. The total plate count of anti-mutagenic treatment group (His+ revertans plate) was significantly lower than control group (adding SA), which showed that it has antimutagenic properties.
In animal tests, HCT116 and H1299 tumor cells were injected subcutaneously into eight-week-old nude mice at the beginning and then they began to take Caulerpa lentillifera extract orally after their tumor cells grew to the size of 0.8 cm. The size of their tumor cells and body wight would be recorded weekly. The result of H1299 tumor cells test showed that the size of tumor cell of CLW group was significantly smaller than control group. The weekly average body wight of CLW group is significantly lighter than control group because that their tumor cells grew relatively slowly. The bioactive material of Caulerpa lentillifera could be used to develop valued seaweed products. It would be an economic seaweed with high potential for developing novel and applicable products.