The last decade period has been characterized by a remarkable increase in the need for food, bioenergy, and pharmaceutical compounds. Meanwhile, microalgae have been in the center of interest as a rich and sustainable source of highly valuable natural products and bioactive compounds. In this perspective, the present study aimed at investigating the biochemical composition of 10 cyanobacterial strains collected from several Tunisian inland waters, seeking to identify the possible use of cyanobacteria in nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals industry, and for animal and human consumption. Ten local strains of cyanobacteria were isolated from several Tunisian inland waters and cultured in controlled laboratory conditions. Fatty Acid methyl esters were analyzed in each strain by Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as well as total proteins, carbohydrates and different phycobiliproteins (phycocyanin, allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin). Results showed that Planktothrix agardhii, Leptolyngbya sp1., and Leptolyngbya sp2. contained 14 different fatty acids, among which oleic acid was the most abundant. These might be important in nutraceutical and agronomic sectors due to the potent antioxidant and larvicidal activities of oleic acid. Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii presents extraordinarily high levels of phycocyanin, making it an exceptional natural reservoir of effective and non-toxic drugs that are of particular interest against cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Extracts from cyanobacterial strains represent a natural and available source of proteins, of highly valuable fatty acids, and especially of phycocyanin which is known by its extremely health beneficial properties. The nutritional and functional complements provided by these extracts can be used in the prevention of various diseases and also as effective and environmentally friendly insecticides.
Ten monoclonal microalgal cultures were obtained from several Tunisian inland water bodies, and their dichloromethane and methanolic extracts were screened for antibacterial, antileishmanial, and antioxidant properties, as well as phycobiliprotein production capacity. Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii has been shown to synthesize high levels of phycocyanin and may be an effective alternative source to other sources used for commercial production of phycocyanin. Chroococcus sp. and Leptolyngbya sp1. exhibited the strongest radical scavenging activity against DPPH (IC50 = 212.15 and 263.91 μg ml−1, respectively), indicating their promising potential for use as new effective and non-toxic antioxidants. Furthermore, Dunaliella sp. showed an interesting antileishmanial activity against the pathogens Leishmania infantum and Leishmania major (IC50 = 151 and 284 μg ml−1, respectively), thus representing a good candidate for use against cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in Tunisia, a country endemic to these diseases where thousands of new cases are registered every year. These results suggest that the strains of microalgae featured in this work have the potential to serve as natural alternative, safe and sustainable sources of high value-added products that could be used to improve the final biomass value.
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