Phytic Acid Extracted from Rice Bran as a Growth Promoter for Euglena gracilis

Abstract

A significant promotion of growth and accumulation of metabolites of freshwater microalga Euglena gracilis was obtained by adding phytic acid to the culture. Phytic acid concentration of 0.05% (v/v) showed a maximum biomass increase of 1.6-fold compared to the control group. Synchronous variation in the content and proportion of photosynthetic pigments was also observed. The total chlorophyll content increased with phytic acid concentration, suggesting the enhanced capacity of absorbing light. Cell length, an important biomarker for E. gracilis, was prolonged to a certain extent under light condition, indicating the state of the cells was more active. Since phytic acid is derived from agro waste of rice bran, it is promising as a low-cost but high-efficient growth promoter of E. gracilis.

Keywords

• phytic acid
• euglena gracilis
• photosynthetic pigments
• cell morphology