Bioactive Metabolites of Microalgae from Canary Islands for Functional Food and Feed Uses

Abstract

Three freshwater microalgae (Spirogyra sp., Cosmarium sp., and Cosmarium blytii) collected from several locations in Gran Canaria have been studied to explore their potential as a novel source of bioactive compounds for biotechnological applications. Soluble carbohydrates were quantified after extraction with 3 M HCl at 100 °C, ranging from 35.8 to 43.3 %, and with water at room temperature, ranging from 19 to 22.8 %. Amino acids glutamic acid, proline and aspartic acid were quantified by RP-HPLC. Glutamic acid was the most abundant, ranging from 12.2 to 3.63 mg g−1 of dry biomass. Cosmarium blytii was the richest sample in amino acids (24.02 mg g−1 of dry weight). In addition, Cosmarium blytii and Spyrogira sp. exhibited higher radical scavenging activity (RSA) against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) than that of the synthetic antioxidant butylhydroxytoluene (BHT), commonly used as food additive. These results show a great potential of these microalgae for exploitation in the food, feed and pharmaceutical industries.