Total Carotenoids, Antioxidant and Anticancer Effect of Penaeus monodon Shells Extract

Tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) is a species of Crustaceans containing carotenoids in the
shell known as powerful antioxidants. This study aims to determine the total amount of carotenoids in
the extract of tiger shrimp shells and evaluate the antioxidant and anti-cancer cell proliferation activity
by in vitro assay. The extract was obtained by maceration using n-hexane. The total amount of
carotenoids in the extract was to be determined equivalent to β-carotene. The UV-Visible
spectrophotometer measured the sample solution and standard references at the maximum wavelength
of β-carotene (462 nm). Two different methods performed an evaluation of antioxidant activity; 1,1-
diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazil (DPPH) radical scavenging and β-carotene bleaching method.
Antiproliferative activity was determined toward three different human lung cancer cell lines (H1975,
H3255, and H441) by the thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The results showed that the
total carotenoid total is 5.23 mg/g, equivalent to β-carotene. The IC50 DPPH value of extract (110.87
μg/mL) indicating medium potency as an antioxidant compared to that in standard quercetin (6.87
μg/mL). However, the bleaching activity of extract (67%) was comparable to that in standard quercetin
(77%). The extract revealed extremely potent antiproliferative activity against the H1975 cell line with
IC50 2.77 μg/mL. Thus, it can be concluded that the tiger shrimp shells extract is a good natural resource
as either antioxidant or anti-cancer cell proliferation activity toward H1975 cell lines.
Keywords: β-carotene; cancer cell lines; DPPH; MTT; tiger shrimp