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In vitro toxicity of microalgal and cyanobacterial strains of interest as food source

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Abstract

The general objective of the present work was to evaluate the toxicity of 11 microalgal strains and one natural bloom, selected as potential food or food ingredients due to their nutritional quality, in two models, human dermal fibroblasts and Artemia salina. Methanolic and aqueous extracts of the biomasses were tested on A. salina for 24 and 48 h at concentrations up to 12.5 g L−1 of extracted biomass. Only aqueous extracts were tested on fibroblasts for 24 h. Chlorella vulgaris Roquette, C. vulgaris Allma, Tetraselmis suecica F&M-M33, and Porphyridium purpureum F&M-M46 showed no toxicity towards A. salina and fibroblasts. Only Klamath powder was toxic to both models with all types of extracts. Tisochrysis lutea (T-ISO) F&M-M36, Chlorella sorokiniana F&M-M49 grown in BG11, and C. sorokinina IAM C-212 showed toxicity, even if to different extents, to fibroblasts and, only with the methanolic extract, to A. salina. The remaining strains showed no toxicity towards A. salina, but were toxic to fibroblasts: Arthrospira platensis F&M-C256 and Nannochloropsis oceanica F&M-M24 exhibited low toxicity, Nostoc sphaeroides F&M-C117 medium toxicity and Phaeodactylum tricornutum F&M-M40 high toxicity. Although in some cases the two models provided contrasting results, this work confirms their validity for preliminary screening of toxicity. The models are able to indicate organisms and substrates of potential toxicity and may well serve as guidelines for in vivo tests on mammals, which are necessary to apply for novel food in the EU.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the spin-off company of the University of Florence Fotosintetica & Microbiologica S.r.l. for the use of its production facilities in Sesto Fiorentino (Florence, Italy) and support in the cultivation of seven of the microalgae tested, Dr. Graziella Chini Zittelli from the Institute of Ecosystem Study of the CNR in Sesto Fiorentino (Italy) for helping in cultivating two of the microalgae tested, Archimede Ricerche S.r.l. (Italy), Roquette Frerès (France) and Allma Microalgae (Portugal) for providing some of the biomasses used in this work, and Mrs. P.A. Bryant for linguistic revision of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences (DISPAA), University of Florence, Piazzale delle Cascine 24, 50144, Florence, Italy

    Alberto Niccolai, Natascia Biondi, Liliana Rodolfi & Mario R. Tredici

  2. Department of NEUROFARBA, Section of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Florence, Viale Pieraccini 6, 50139, Florence, Italy

    Elisabetta Bigagli, Lorenzo Cinci & Cristina Luceri

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  1. Alberto Niccolai
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  2. Elisabetta Bigagli
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Correspondence to Natascia Biondi.

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Niccolai, A., Bigagli, E., Biondi, N. et al. In vitro toxicity of microalgal and cyanobacterial strains of interest as food source. J Appl Phycol 29, 199–209 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-016-0924-2

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