Profiling of carotenoids and antioxidant capacity of microalgae from subtropical coastal and brackish waters

Faruq Ahmed; Kent Fanning; Michael Netzel; Warwick Turner; Yan Li; Peer M Schenk

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.05.107

Profiling of carotenoids and antioxidant capacity of microalgae from subtropical coastal and brackish waters

Food Chem. 2014 Dec 15:165:300-6. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.05.107. Epub 2014 May 27.

Authors

Faruq Ahmed¹, Kent Fanning², Michael Netzel³, Warwick Turner², Yan Li⁴, Peer M Schenk⁵

Affiliations

¹ Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
² Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), Coopers Plains, Queensland 4108, Australia.
³ Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
⁴ Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia; School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia.
⁵ Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia. Electronic address: p.schenk@uq.edu.au.

PMID: 25038679
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.05.107

Abstract

Carotenoids are associated with various health benefits, such as prevention of age-related macular degeneration, cataract, certain cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophy and cardiovascular problems. As microalgae contain considerable amounts of carotenoids, there is a need to find species with high carotenoid content. Out of hundreds of Australian isolates, 12 microalgal species were screened for carotenoid profiles, carotenoid productivity, and in vitro antioxidant capacity (total phenolic content (TPC) and ORAC). The top four carotenoid producers at 4.68-6.88 mg/g dry weight (DW) were Dunaliella salina, Tetraselmis suecica, Isochrysis galbana, and Pavlova salina. TPC was low, with D. salina possessing the highest TPC (1.54 mg Gallic Acid Equivalents/g DW) and ORAC (577 μmol Trolox Equivalents/g DW). Results indicate that T. suecica, D. salina, P. salina and I. galbana could be further developed for commercial carotenoid production.

Keywords: Antioxidant capacity; Carotenoids; Microalgae; ORAC; Total phenolics.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Antioxidants / chemistry*
Carotenoids / chemistry*
Microalgae / chemistry*
Phenols / analysis*

Substances

Antioxidants
Phenols
Carotenoids