Comparative Analysis of Bioactive Compounds in Acanthaster planci and Acanthaster benziei Collected From Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt via GC-MS: Insights into Pharmaceutical Potential

Salim, Tareef A.; Hella, Ahmed; Saber, Samy Abdelatif Ahmed; Suleiman, Waleed Bakry; Mona, Mahy Mohammed; El-Naggar, Hussein A.

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2025.416802.6465

Comparative Analysis of Bioactive Compounds in Acanthaster planci and Acanthaster benziei Collected From Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt via GC-MS: Insights into Pharmaceutical Potential

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Sabha University, Libya

² Zoology and Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

³ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Egypt

⁴ Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

10.21608/ejabf.2025.416802.6465

Abstract

The crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster spp.) are ecologically significant marine species whose biomedical potential remains mainly unexplored. The present investigation was carried out to determine bioactive compounds in chloroform-methanol extracts of Acanthaster planci and Acanthaster benziei collected from the Egyptian Red Sea. GC-MS analysis identified 20 and 18 compounds in A. planci and A. benziei, respectively. A. planci contained unique compounds such as glycidyl palmitate (5.13 %) and glycidyl ester (6.09 %), while A. benziei showed a higher abundance of saturated fatty acids viz. octadecanoic acid (17.79 %). The identified compounds exhibited diverse pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antiviral activities, supporting the therapeutic potential of both species. To our knowledge, this is the first comparative GC-MS study of Acanthaster species in the Egyptian Red Sea, highlighting the importance of marine organisms—particularly invasive species—as sources of bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical applications.

Keywords