Two Classes of Pigments, Carotenoids and C-Phycocyanin, in Spirulina Powder and Their Antioxidant Activities

Abstract

Arthrospira platensis is the widely available source of spirulina and contains distinctive natural pigments including carotenoids and C-phycocyanin (C-PC). In this study, the major carotenoid and C-PC contents were determined in seven commercially available spirulina powder products and laboratory-prepared A. platensis trichomes (AP-1) by an LC-DAD method and a UV-Visible spectrometry, respectively. The correlation of these two pigment content levels with Hunter color coordinates and antioxidant activity was also evaluated. The L* value failed to show a significant correlation with pigment content, but a positive correlation was observed between a* values and the contents of total carotenoid and C-PC. As b* values decreased, the total carotenoid and C-PC contents increased. AP-1 exhibited the highest content of total carotenoids, chlorophyll a and C-PC, and antioxidant activities among the samples. This observation could be related to degradation of these pigments during the mass production process. The carotenoid profiles suggested that the commercial spirulina powders originated from two different sources, A. platensis and A. maxima. Total carotenoid and C-PC content exhibited positive significant correlations with antioxidant activities measured by DPPH and ABTS assays. These results provide a strong scientific foundation for the establishment of standards for the commercial distribution of quality spirulina products.

Microalgae-enriched breadsticks: Analysis for vitamin C, carotenoids, and chlorophyll a

“…Vitamin C in Spirulina was like the value found by Babadzhanov et al (2004) while the vitamin C content in Chlorella was slightly higher than the value of Pratt and Johnson (1967). The chlorophyll a and total carotenoid detected in microalgae were in the same range of values reported by other authors (Hynstova et al, 2018;Park et al, 2018;Seyfabadi et al, 2011). Spirulina presented significantly higher (p < 0.05) vitamin C and Chlorophyll a values than Chlorella.…”

The effects of spirulina on glycemic control and serum lipoproteins in patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…The active ingredients responsible for hypolipidemic impacts of spirulina are not entirely established. One of the main ingredient of spirulina is a protein named C‐phycocyanin, which improves serum lipoproteins and acts antiatherogenic by scavenging free radicals, inhibiting lipid peroxidation, inhibiting NADPH oxidase expression as cofactors in fat metabolism, and increasing the activity of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase (Park et al, ). Other lipid‐lowering and antiatherogenic effects of spirulina most probably include regulation of prostaglandin and cholesterol synthesis by gamma‐linolenic acid derived from spirulina (Karkos, Leong, Karkos, Sivaji, & Assimakopoulos, ), increasing the activity of lipoprotein lipase and hepatic triglyceride lipase (Karkos et al, ), decreasing bile acids reabsorbtion and cholesterol accumulation in the intestine (Bisen, ; Ionov & Basova, ), and decreasing inflammatory process (Ku, Yang, Park, & Lee, ).…”

Impact of thermal processing on the nutrients, phytochemicals, and metal contaminants in edible algae

“…Notably, algae have also been optimized for carotenoid accumulation and are grown commercially as a carotenoid source. In particular, Spirulina and Haemotococcus pluvialis are often used commercially to produce wellcharacterized carotenoid extracts (Park et al 2018, Hu et al 2008, Boussiba et al 1999.…”