Natural occurrence of denatured phycoerythrin during Porphyra cultivation

Phycobilins and Phycobiliproteins Used in Food Industry and Medicine

“…turns green when toasted and this color remains during storage for few days in vinegar [5,102]. However, sometimes undesirable reddish-brown coloration appears due to monomerization of phycoerythrin at low pH in vinegar and/or in vivo in cultivated nori when the fronds on frozen nursery-nets become damaged [103]. Interestingly, phycocyanin and phycoerythrin isolated from Porphyridium remain stable for 40 or 30 minutes, respectively, to heat stress (up to 65 °C) at lower pH values (pH 4-5-6) in vitro [89], and sorbitol can to some extent prevent the temperature-induced degradation of the protein, and thus the decoloration of phycocyanin [104].…”