TY - JOUR
T1 - Antioxidant Activity and Carotenoid Content Responses of Three Haematococcus sp. (Chlorophyta) Strains Exposed to Multiple Stressors
AU - Parkes, Rachel
AU - Barone, Maria Elena
AU - Herbert, Helen
AU - Gillespie, Eoin
AU - Touzet, Nicolas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - There has been increasing demands worldwide for bioactive compounds of natural origins, especially for the nutraceutical and food-supplement sectors. In this context, microalgae are viewed as sustainable sources of molecules with an array of health benefits. For instance, astaxanthin is a xanthophyll pigment with powerful antioxidant capacity produced by microalgae such as the chlorophyte Haematococcus sp., which is regarded as the most suitable organism for the mass production of this pigment. In this study, three Haematococcus sp. strains were cultivated using a batch mode under favourable conditions to promote vegetative growth. Their environment was altered in a second phase using a higher and constant illumination regime combined with either exposure to blue LED light, an osmotic shock (with NaCl addition) or supplementation with a phytohormone (gibberellic acid, GA3), a plant extract (ginger), an herbicide (molinate) or an oxidant reagent (hydrogen peroxide). The effects of these stressors were evaluated in terms of antioxidant response and astaxanthin and β-carotene accumulation. Overall, strain CCAP 34/7 returned the highest Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) response (14.1–49.1 µmoL Trolox eq. g− 1 of DW), while the highest antioxidant response with the Folin–Ciocalteu (FC) was obtained for strain RPFW01 (62.5–155 µmoL Trolox eq. g− 1 of DW). The highest β-β-carotene content was found in strain LAFW15 when supplemented with the ginger extract (4.8 mg. g− 1). Strain RPFW01 exposed to blue light returned the highest astaxanthin yield (2.8 mg. g− 1), 5-fold that of strain CCAP 34/7 on average. This study documents the importance of screening several strains when prospecting for species with potential to produce high-value metabolites. It highlights that strain-specific responses can ensue from exposure of cells to a variety of stressors, which is important for the adequate tailoring of a biorefinery pipeline. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
AB - There has been increasing demands worldwide for bioactive compounds of natural origins, especially for the nutraceutical and food-supplement sectors. In this context, microalgae are viewed as sustainable sources of molecules with an array of health benefits. For instance, astaxanthin is a xanthophyll pigment with powerful antioxidant capacity produced by microalgae such as the chlorophyte Haematococcus sp., which is regarded as the most suitable organism for the mass production of this pigment. In this study, three Haematococcus sp. strains were cultivated using a batch mode under favourable conditions to promote vegetative growth. Their environment was altered in a second phase using a higher and constant illumination regime combined with either exposure to blue LED light, an osmotic shock (with NaCl addition) or supplementation with a phytohormone (gibberellic acid, GA3), a plant extract (ginger), an herbicide (molinate) or an oxidant reagent (hydrogen peroxide). The effects of these stressors were evaluated in terms of antioxidant response and astaxanthin and β-carotene accumulation. Overall, strain CCAP 34/7 returned the highest Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) response (14.1–49.1 µmoL Trolox eq. g− 1 of DW), while the highest antioxidant response with the Folin–Ciocalteu (FC) was obtained for strain RPFW01 (62.5–155 µmoL Trolox eq. g− 1 of DW). The highest β-β-carotene content was found in strain LAFW15 when supplemented with the ginger extract (4.8 mg. g− 1). Strain RPFW01 exposed to blue light returned the highest astaxanthin yield (2.8 mg. g− 1), 5-fold that of strain CCAP 34/7 on average. This study documents the importance of screening several strains when prospecting for species with potential to produce high-value metabolites. It highlights that strain-specific responses can ensue from exposure of cells to a variety of stressors, which is important for the adequate tailoring of a biorefinery pipeline. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
KW - Antioxidant response
KW - Astaxanthin
KW - Haematococcus
KW - Intra-specific variability
KW - β-β-carotene
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128719099&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12010-022-03926-4
DO - 10.1007/s12010-022-03926-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 35467238
AN - SCOPUS:85128719099
SN - 0273-2289
VL - 194
SP - 4492
EP - 4510
JO - Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
JF - Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
IS - 10
ER -