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Induction of antioxidant activities of Arthrospira platensis and Chlorella vulgaris by modified culture conditions

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Abstract

Microalgae are considered a promising source for obtaining natural compounds with strong antioxidant activity. Despite the great progress made in this field, there is still need for further studies applying simple and cost-effective modifications to reveal their full potential and enhance antioxidant properties. Arthrospira platensis and Chlorella vulgaris are some of the most common cells studied for this purpose. In this study, it was aimed to develop a bioprocess for the enhancement of antioxidant properties of these two microalgae by evaluating the effect of different culture conditions. With this aim, the impacts of light intensity/reactive oxygen species and nitrogen sources/reactive oxygen species were evaluated for the A. platensis and C. vulgaris cells, respectively. Results showed that the antioxidant potential of A. platensis was found to be correlated with the phycocyanin and total phenolic content of cells, and 80 µmol photons m−2 s−1 light intensity induced antioxidant activity in a two-step cultivation mode. For C. vulgaris cells, maximum antioxidant activities of 68.10 ± 1.51% and 75.68 ± 0.66% were obtained in cultures with NH4Cl (0.016% (w/v)) for DPPH and ABTS assays, respectively. The applied oxidative stress factors exhibited different effects on the antioxidant activities of the cells because of their cellular morphologies and changing mechanisms of reactive oxygen species. These outcomes show the potential of applied modifications on cells and suggest a promising route to enhance antioxidant activities of microalgae for further research.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was a part of Cost Action CA17120 and the authors would like to thank the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with the project number 120M111 for the financial support.

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Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, 120M111

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  1. Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ege University, 35100, Izmir, Turkey

    Bahar Aslanbay Guler, Zeliha Demirel & Esra Imamoglu

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BAG: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing–original draft. ZD: Conceptualization, Resources. EI: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing–review & editing.

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Correspondence to Bahar Aslanbay Guler.

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Aslanbay Guler, B., Demirel, Z. & Imamoglu, E. Induction of antioxidant activities of Arthrospira platensis and Chlorella vulgaris by modified culture conditions. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 47, 275–287 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-023-02963-5

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