Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of antioxidant properties and total phenolic contents of some strains of microalgae

  • Published:
Journal of Applied Phycology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Antioxidant activities of both cells and extracellular substances were evaluated in 12 soil-isolated strains of microalgae according to FRAP and DPPH-HPLC assays. Their total phenolic contents were also determined by Folin–Ciocalteu method. Extractions were performed with hexane, ethyl acetate, and water. The results of FRAP assay showed that algal cells contained considerable amounts of antioxidants from 0.56 ± 0.06 to 31.06 ± 4.00 µmol Trolox g−1 for Microchaete tenera hexane extract and Chlorella vulgaris water extract, respectively. In water fractions of extracellular substances, the antioxidants were from 1.30 ± 0.15 µmol Trolox g−1 for Fischerella musicola to 73.20 ± 0.16 µmol Trolox g−1 for Fischerella ambigua. Also, DPPH-HPLC assay represented high antioxidant potential of water fractions. The measured radical-scavenging activities of the studied microalgae were at least 0.15 ± 0.02 in Nostoc ellipsosporum cell mass to a maximum of 109.02 ± 8.25 in C. vulgaris extracellular substance. The amount of total phenolic contents varied in different strains of microalgae and ranged from zero in hexane extract to 19.15 ± 0.04 mg GAE g−1 in C. vulgaris extracellular water fraction. Significant correlation coefficients between two measured parameters indicated that phenolic compounds were a major contributor to the microalgal antioxidant capacities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Benzie IFF, Strain JJ (1976) The ferric reducing ability of plasma as a power: the FRAP assay. Anal Biochem 239:70–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borowitzka MA (1988) Algal growth media and sources of algal cultures. In: Borowitzka MA, Borowitzka LJ (eds) Micro-algal Biotechnology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 456–465

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandrasekar D, Madhusudhana K, Ramakrishna S, Diwan PV (2006) Determination of DPPH free radical scavenging activity by reversed-phase HPLC: a sensitive screening method for polyherbal formulations. J Pharm Biomed Anal 40:460–464

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen F (1996) High cell density culture of microalgae in heterotrophic growth. Trends Biotechnol 14:421–426

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen F, Li HB, Wong RNS, Ji B, Jiang Y (2005) Isolation and purification of the bioactive carotenoid zeaxanthin from the microalga Microcystis aeruginosa by high-speed countercurrent chromatography. J Chromatogr A 1064:183–186

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De La Noue J, De Pauw N (1988) The potential of microalgal biotechnology: a review of production and uses of microalgae. Biotechnol Adv 6(4):725–770

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Desikachary TV (1959) Cyanophyta. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi

    Google Scholar 

  • Duan X, Zhang W, Li X, Wang B (2006) Evaluation of antioxidant property of extract and fractions obtained from a red alga, Polysiphonia urceolata. Food Chem 95:37–43

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dufosse L, Galaup P, Yaron A, Arad SM, Blanc P, Murthy NC, Ravishankar GA (2005) Microorganisms and microalgae as sources of pigments for food use: a scientific oddity or an industrial reality? Trends Food Sci Technol 16:389–406

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Faramarzi MA, Tabatabaei Yazdi M, Ghostinroudi H, Amini H, Ghasemi Y, Jahandar H, Arabi H (2006) Nostoc muscorum: a regioselective biocatalyst for 17-carbonyl reduction of androst-4-en-3,17-dione and androst-1,4-dien-3,17-dione. Ann Microbiol 56:253–256

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Faramarzi MA, Adrangi S, Tabatabaei Yazdi M (2008) Microalgal transformation of steroids. J Phycol 44:27–37

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gharaei-Fathabad E, Tabatabaei Yazdi M, Ostad S-N, Shokravi S, Sepehrizadeh Z, Faramarzi MA, Amini M (2007) Nostoc piscinale Gt-319: a new cyanobacterial strain with cytotoxic activity. Biotechnology 6:505–512

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gharaei-Fathabad E, Tabatabaei Yazdi M, Ostad S-N, Faramarzi MA (2008) In vitro genotoxicity of extracellular extract from Nostoc piscinale. Toxicol Environ Chem 90:795–799

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghasemi Y, Faramarzi MA, Arjmand-Inalou M, Mohagheghzade A, Shokravi S, Morowvati MH (2007) Side-chain cleavage and C-20 ketone reduction of hydrocortisone by a natural isolate of Chroococcus dispersus. Ann Microbiol 57:577–581

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guzman S, Gato A, Galleja JM (2001) Antiinflammatory, analgesic and free radical scavenging activities of the marine microalgae Chlorella stigmatophora and Phaeodactylum tricorntum. Phytother Res 15:224–230

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herrero MJL, Martin-Alvarez PJ, Cifuentes A, Ibanez E (2006) Optimization of the extraction of antioxidants from Dunaliella salina microalga by pressurized liquids. J Agric Food Chem 54:5597–5603

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jaime L, Mendiola JA, Herrero M, Soler-Rivas C, Santoyo S, Senorans FJ, Cifuentes A, Ibanez E (2005) Separation and characterization of antioxidants from Spirulina platensis microalga combining pressurized liquid extraction, TLC and HPLC-DAD. J Sep Sci 28:2111–2119

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jimenez-Escrig A, Jimenez-Jimenez I, Pulido R, Saura-Calixto F (2001) Antioxidant activity of fresh and processed edible seaweeds. J Sci Food Agric 81:530–534

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • John DM, Whitton BA, Brook AJ (2002) The freshwater algal flora of the British Isles, an identification guide to freshwater and terrestrial algae. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Katalinic V, Milos M, Kulisic T, Jukic M (2006) Screening of 70 medicinal plant extracts for antioxidant capacity and total phenols. Food Chem 94:550–557

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karunakar N, Prabhakara MC, Krishna DR (2003) Determination of antioxidant activity of some drugs using HPLC. Arzneimittel-Forschung-Drug Research 53:254–259

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krishnaiah P, Reddy VLN, Venkataramana G, Ravinder K, Srinivasulu M, Raju TV, Ravikumar K, Chandrasekar D, Ramakrishna S, Venkateswarlu Y (2004) J Nat Products 67:1168–1171

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kuda T, Tsunekawa M, Hishi T, Araki Y (2005) Antioxidant properties of dried Kayamo-nori, a brown alga Scytosiphon lomentaria (Scytosiphonales, Phaeophyceae). Food Chem 89:617–622

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li HB, Cheng KW, Wong CC, Fan KW, Chen F, Jiang Y (2007) Evaluation of antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content of different fractions of selected microalgae. Food Chem 102:771–776

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moradpour Z, Torshabi M, Faramarzi MA, Tabatabaei Yazdi M, Ghasemi Y, Jahandar H, Zolfaghari N, Zarrini G (2006) Microalgal transformation of androst-4-en-3,17-dione by Nostoc ellipsosporum. Research Journal of Microbiology 1:289–293

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miranda MS, Cintra RG, Barros SBM, Mancini-Filho J (1998) Antioxidant activity of the microalga Spirulina maxima. Braz J Med Biol Res 31(8):1075–1079

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prescott GW (1963) Algae of the Western Great Lake Area. Brown, Dubuque

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulz O, Gross W (2004) Valuable products from biotechnology of microalgae. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 65:635–648

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rao AR, Sarada R, Baskaran V, Ravishankar GA (2006) Antioxidant activity of Botryococcus braunii extract elucidated in vitro models. J Agric Food Chem 54:4593–4599

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Singh S, Kate B, Banerjee UC (2005) Bioactive compounds from cyanobacteria and microalgae: an overview. Crit Rev Biotechnol 25:73–95

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skulberg OM (2006) Bioactive chemicals in microalgae. In: Richmond A (ed) Handbook of microalgal culture, biotechnology and applied phycology. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 485–512

    Google Scholar 

  • Shokravi S, Soltani N, Baftechi L (2002) Cyanobacteria as biofertilizer in paddy fields. National Research Council of Islamic Republic of Iran, Grant No.: NRCI 489–66

  • Shokravi S, Amirlatifi F, Safaie M, Soltani N (2008a) Taxonomical characterization of Fischerella sp. FS18 collected from paddy-Fields of Golestan province (Iran) Quarterly Journal on Plant Science Researches (Iran) l1(9):12–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Shokravi S, Soltani N, Valiente EF (2008b) Morphological variation of paddy field cyanobacterium Fischerella sp. from Iran under combined influence of pH and irradiance. Quarterly Journal on Plant Science Researches (Iran) l1(8):1–5

    Google Scholar 

  • Soltani N, Khavari-Nejad RA, Tabatabaei Yazdi M, Shokravi S, Fernandez-Valiente E (2005) Screening of soil cyanobacteria for antifungal and antibacterial activity. Pharm Biol 43:455–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabatabaei Yazdi M, Ghasemi Y, Ghasemian A, Shokravi S, Niknahad H, Amini M, Dehshahri A, Faramarzi MA (2005) Bioconversion of hydrocortisone by cyanobacterium Fischerella ambigua PTCC 1635. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 21:811–814

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsao R, Deng Z (2004) Separation procedures for naturally occurring antioxidant phytochemicals. J Chromatogr 812:85–99

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Velioglu YS, Mazza G, Gao L, Oomah BD (1998) Antioxidant activity and total phenolics in selected fruits, vegetables and grain products. J Agric Food Chem 46:4113–4117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wong CC, Li HB, Cheng KW, Chen F (2006) A systematic survey of antioxidant activity of 30 Chinese medicinal plants using the ferric reducing antioxidant power assay. Food Chem 97:705–711

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu L, Ho JA, Shieh M, Lu I (2005) Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of Spirulina and Chlorella water extracts. J Agric Food Chem 53:4207–4212

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguchi T, Takamura H, Matoba T, Terao J (1998) HPLC method for evaluation of the free radical-scavenging activity of foods by using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 62:1201–1204

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the grant No. 6087-33-03-86 from the research council of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Drug and Food Control, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 14155-6451, Tehran, 14174, Iran

    Mannan Hajimahmoodi, Najmeh Mohammadi & Mohammad Reza Oveisi

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology; Biotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 14155-6451, Tehran, 14174, Iran

    Mohammad Ali Faramarzi & Najmeh Mohammadi

  3. Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Technologies, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 14174, Iran

    Mohammad Ali Faramarzi

  4. Department of Biology, ACECR, Research Institute of Applied Science, Tehran, Iran

    Neda Soltani

  5. Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 14155-6153, Tehran, Iran

    Nastaran Nafissi-Varcheh

Authors
  1. Mannan Hajimahmoodi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mohammad Ali Faramarzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Najmeh Mohammadi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Neda Soltani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mohammad Reza Oveisi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Nastaran Nafissi-Varcheh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Ali Faramarzi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hajimahmoodi, M., Faramarzi, M.A., Mohammadi, N. et al. Evaluation of antioxidant properties and total phenolic contents of some strains of microalgae. J Appl Phycol 22, 43–50 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-009-9424-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-009-9424-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation