Rapana venosa as a bioindicator of environmental pollution

The aim of this investigation was to examine biochemical differences in the gastropod Rapana venosa (R. venosa) from polluted (RvP) and nonpolluted (RvN) sites of the Black Sea's Bulgarian coast that may serve as bioindicators of environmental quality. Mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis (MMg) were collected from polluted (MMgP) and nonpolluted (MMgN) sites at the same time for comparison. Bioactive compounds and the antioxidant activity of dry matter (DM) methanol extracts from RvP and RvN were determined. Three-dimensional fluorometry (3D-FL) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses were used to evaluate polyphenols and proteins. DM methanol extracts from RvP, and to lesser extent RvN, showed high amounts of total phenolics (23.22 ± 2.9 and 15.60 ± 1.8mg GAE·g^-1 DW) and exhibited high levels of antioxidant activity in some radical scavenging assays (μMTE·g^-1 DW): 56.38 ± 5.2 and 33.79 ± 3.3 by 2,2azino-bis (3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diamonium salt (ABTS·⁺)54.79 ± 5.6 and 33.7 ± 2.6 by cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC); 62.34 ± 6.8 and 30.31 ± 3.9 by the 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl method(DPPH). A correlation in the above indices was found between R.venosa and M. galloprovincialis, but all results were relatively higher for M. galloprovincialis than for R. venosa. The obtained indices of R. venosa may serve as a bioindicator of environmental ecological quality.