Effect of heavy metals on the antioxidant compounds of Monoraphidium and Scenedesmus microalgae

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, IRAN

2 Msc. Student, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, IRAN

3 ŮŽAssistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

4 Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, IRAN

Abstract

Microalgae are one of the rich sources of antioxidant compounds with health benefits. The synthesis of such compounds in microalgae cells can be increased under stress conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of heavy metals on antioxidant compounds production. For this purpose, both Monoraphidium and Scenedesmus strains were first cultured in BBM medium and after reaching the appropriate growth, they were treated with mercury chloride under stress conditions. Total antioxidant activity was measured by FRAP and DPPH methods, also photosynthetic pigments and superoxide dismutase activity were examined. The growth rates and the amount of antioxidant compounds decreased in both Monoraphidium and Scenedesmus microalgae under different concentrations of mercury chloride stress. However, the activity of superoxide dismutase increased while mercury chloride concentration increased. The results of this study showed that by removing heavy metals from algae medium, a suitable environment is provided to increase the specific compounds and these microalgae compounds cab be used in the pharmaceutical, medical and food supplements industries.

Keywords

Journal of Fisheries
Volume 74, Issue 1
April 2021
Pages 107-118

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