Cultivation of micro and macroalgae under controlled conditions, and extraction of sulfated polisaccharides

Abstract

Marine algae are organisms of great importance for life maintenance, therefore they are responsible for most of the oxygenconsumption in the Earth. They are widely used in food industries, of cosmetics and medicines and, granting the biotechnology development, the scientifi c community interest in studying them is on the increase. The present work aims to evaluate cultivation under controlled conditions and extraction of sulfated polisaccharides (SP) of some micro and macroalgal species. Microalgae farming was carried out from species maintained in a ceparium, while macroalgae species were collected in the natural environment. In general, microalgae growth curves showed similar trends, while the macroalga Ulva lactuca presented the highest relative growth rate (19.56% d-1) followed by Ulva fasciata, Porphyra acanthophora and Gracilaria caudata (10.7; 9.6; and 4.9%.d-1). SP extration from microalgae showed that Spirulina platensis, Tetraselmis gracilis and Dunaliella sp. presented yields of 8.7; 5.2 and 2.0%, respectively. With regard to macroalgae H. pseudofl oresia, S. fi liformis, S. schroederii, C. feldmannii, G. caudata, L. variegata, C.sertularioides and C.racemosa, yields of 47.14; 43.4; 38.4; 36.2; 31.5; 28.4; 13.0 and 7.10%, respectively, were obtained. Thus, it was possible to extract SP from all utilized species, mainly macroalgae, but a great yield variation of these molecules between the studied species was observed.