Fatty acid profile and in silico pharmacological study of diatom amphora sp.

Amphora sp. is a type of potential microalgae that has a considerably high content of lipid. The current experiment was carried out for the extraction and identification of Amphora sp. fatty acids, using n-hexane and petroleum ether as solvents, before studying their pharmacological properties, in silico. The results showed that petroleum ether gives a better yield of 3.58%, compared to n-Hexane (2.74%). The GCMS analysis of the sample extracted using petroleum ether shows six peaks corresponding to 6-Dodecanone; Methyl (E)-octadec-11-enoate; Methyl 15-methylhexadecanoate; 2,5-Dimethylcyclohexanol; 2,3-Dimethyl-undec-1-en-3-ol and 3,6,6-Trimethyl-2-norpinanol. Meanwhile, the sample extracted using n-hexane only shows two fatty acid compounds, i.e.: 2,3-Dimethyl-undec-1-en-3-ol and 3,6,6-Trimethyl-2-norpinanol. The absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET) analysis showed that fatty acid compounds contained in Amphora sp. have potential as drug ingredients, based on the Lipinski's rule of five and on their pharmacokinetic properties. Biological activity based on the prediction of activity spectra for substances (PASS) shows that fatty acids contained in Amphora sp. have a considerably good activity as antivirals with a probability activity (Pa) value of 0.592-0.723, but also have several other activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antineoplastic, and antioxidant. These results indicate that petroleum ether solvent is more effective than n-Hexane to extract fatty acids in Amphora sp., with a high potential as natural antiviral.