MOSCOW, April 16. A method for the industrial cultivation of valuable microalgae rich in polysaccharides was developed by scientists from the Immanuel Kant IKBFU. With the help of polysaccharides, you can improve intestinal blood flow, populate the intestines with beneficial bacteria, and also accelerate the removal of food and chemical mutagens from the human body. The results were published in the Journal of Applied Biology & Biotechnology.
Microalgae are marine and freshwater single-celled organisms invisible to the naked eye. According to scientists, they have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, immunomodulatory and anticarcinogenic activity. However, there is still no reliable data in the world that can be used to establish a stable process for cultivating microalgae on an industrial scale.
Researchers at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (IKBFU) have found that each of the three strains of microalgae of the genus Porphyridium requires individual environmental and lighting parameters. Then the ideal combinations of these parameters were selected. According to their forecasts, this will make it possible to cultivate the required volumes of microalgae, capable of producing a large amount of high-quality polysaccharides during processing.
As the director of the scientific and educational center «Industrial Biotechnologies» of the IKBFU said. I. Kanta Olga Babich, polysaccharides obtained from marine microalgae are used in medicine, food and feed industries; they belong to complex carbohydrates and serve as a source of energy for the renewal of body cells.
In particular, the scientists concluded that low levels of potassium nitrate stimulated the production of polysaccharides in all three microalgae. Meanwhile, the addition of sodium chloride to the nutrient medium had a positive effect on the microalgae Porphyridium cruentum Näg, and on the contrary, a negative effect on the microalgae Porphyridium sordidum Geitl. In addition, they changed the lighting. It turned out that blue light (in the range of 430 nm) has a bad effect on the growth of Porphyridium sordidum Geitl, although it is traditionally believed that blue light always promotes biomass growth.
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“Polysaccharides are produced by different plants, but microalgae are good because they grow very quickly and are a renewable, environmentally friendly and non-toxic resource,” noted Olga Babich, emphasizing that the correct organization of the process of cultivating microalgae rich in high-quality polysaccharides will provide a serious competitive advantage for the development production.
“»Using microalgae exopolysaccharides, it will be possible to create products for weight loss, anti-ageing, sports nutrition and maintaining a healthy lifestyle,» Babich added.
In addition, according to her, microalgae are a source of sulfated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids), phycobiliprotein, phycoerythrin and protein.
The IKBFU also said that research on the cultivation of microalgae is being conducted all over the world, but it is focused on a small number of species, mainly from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. According to scientists, most of the research is of a fundamental nature and has no applied value: “in world science there is still no complete understanding of the mechanisms of the technology for accumulating microalgae biomass, the production of exopolysaccharides and the principles of managing the total cost of the cultivation process.”
Research is carried out within the framework of scientific cooperation between the IKBFU and the University of Clermont Auvergne (France) and with the financial support of the Ministry of Education and Science within the framework of the state program «Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation». In the future, scientists plan to study the potential of the obtained polysaccharides for the development of drugs for the prevention of diabetes, hypertension, anemia and gastric ulcers.
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