Biochemical profile of green and red algae - a key for understanding their potential application as food additives

Abstract

PURPOSE: With the improvements of the microalgal cultivation industry, it became possible to add algal biomass and its metabolites in foods in order to create a balanced and health-food. METHODS: By determining the growth and the biochemical composition (lipids, carbohydrates and proteins), two algal strains were evaluated as a potential source of food additives – the newly isolated strain of the green algae Scenedesmus sp. and the red algae Porphyridium cruentum). RESULTS: It turned out that in Scenedesmus sp. BGP the most abundant component were the proteins (up tp 45 %), which makes this alga an excellent unconventional protein producer. As opposed to it, the biochemical composition of Porphyridium cruentum was dominated by carbohydrates (up to 57%), but there was also a high content of some essential polyunsaturated fatty acids: arachidonic (AA, 20:4; 13-29%) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5, 24-25%). CONCLUSIONS: Microalgae are a really remarkable source of biomass and a wide range of substances, but this area is poorly explored. Both of the microalgal strains proved to be important sources of functional ingredients that could be successfully used as food additives together or separately

Keywords

• scenedesmus
• porphyridium
• protein
• carbohydrate
• arachidonic acid
• eicosapentaenoic acid