PREPARATION OF FREEZE DRIED GLANDULAR EXTRACT FROM MARINE GASTROPOD MOLLUSC TELESCOPIUM TELESCOPIUM

摘要

Marine environment have been recognized as an important source of bioactive compounds having medicinal potential. Apart from human medicines, the research on marine natural product in last three decades has also brought to the discoveries of many chemically and biologically interesting molecules (Higa et al, 2001). Organisms living different zones in the sea or in the estuaries are often subjected to harsh living conditions associated with frequent changes in their aquatic environment. Moreover, theintense concentration of species coexisting in limited extent habitats necessarily makes them highly competitive and complex. The complex microbiological adaptations needed to grow in the ocean are completely different from those of land based organisms.Nutrients are scarce and microbial symbiosis is common. Furthermore, competition for resources at microscopic level is intense. These has resulted in a variety of chemical substances produced by microorganisms for their own defense, a range of compoundsthat has the potential to be a major source of new drugs (Ravindranath et al, 1985). The development of marine compound as therapeutic agent is still in its infancy due to lack of an analogous ethno-medical history as compared with terrestrial habitats, together with the relative technical difficulties in collecting marine organisms. Thus our effort was to prepare a marine bioactive compound with potential future clinical application.