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Chemical composition of microalgae Heterochlorella luteoviridis and Dunaliella tertiolecta with emphasis on carotenoids
Author(s) -
Diprat Andressa Bacalau,
Menegol Tania,
Boelter Juliana Ferreira,
Zmozinski Ariane,
Rodrigues Vale Maria Goreti,
Rodrigues Eliseu,
Rech Rosane
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.8159
Subject(s) - carotenoid , lutein , violaxanthin , xanthophyll , food science , composition (language) , chemistry , astaxanthin , botany , biology , zeaxanthin , linguistics , philosophy
BACKGROUND Microalgae have been used as food supplements owing to their high protein, polyunsaturated fatty acid and carotenoid contents. As different carotenoids have distinct properties and the carotenoid composition of microalgae has been poorly explored in the literature, this study determined the complete carotenoid composition of two microalgae species, Heterochlorella luteoviridis and Dunaliella tertiolecta , using high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and tandem mass spectrometry ( HPLC‐DAD / MS 2 ). Additionally, the proximate composition and major minerals were evaluated. RESULTS The carotenoid composition of the two microalgae was similar, with 13 carotenoids being found in H. luteoviridis and 12 in D. tertiolecta . The major carotenoids were all‐ trans ‐lutein (1.18 mg g −1 in H. luteoviridis and 1.59 mg g −1 in D. tertiolecta ), all‐ trans ‐violaxanthin (0.52 mg g −1 in H. luteoviridis and 0.45 mg g −1 in D. tertiolecta ) and all‐ trans‐β ‐carotene (0.50 mg g −1 in H. luteoviridis and 0.62 mg g −1 in D. tertiolecta ). All‐ trans ‐lutein was the predominant carotenoid in both microalgae, representing around 40% (mass fraction) of the total carotenoids. The lutein content found in these microalgae was significantly higher (2–40 times) than that in other important food sources of lutein (e.g. parsley, carrot, red pepper and broccoli). CONCLUSION The microalgae H. luteoviridis and D. tertiolecta are excellent sources of lutein that could be commercially exploited by the food and pharmaceutical industries. Moreover, it was confirmed that both microalgae are good sources of protein, lipids and calcium. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry