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Bioactivity screening of Aurantiochytrium sp. for antioxidant activities

Joaquina Pinheiro1*, Maria Paulo2, Joana Coutinho2, Teresa M. Baptista1, Susana M. Bernardino1, Carla Tecelão1, Maria M. Gil1 and Marco Lemos1
  • 1 Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente (IPLeiria), Portugal
  • 2 Depsiextracta, Tecnologias Biológicas Lda, Coruche, Portugal

Aurantiochytrium sp. is a heterotrophic microalgae that, in certain growth conditions, besides producing significant amounts of squalene, may potentially produce other bioactive compounds with high value and commercial interest such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), carotenoids, among others. Antioxidant compounds, naturally occurring in microalgae sources, have been identified as free radical or active oxygen scavengers, with beneficial effects on oxidation and oxidative damage inhibition in human body and foods. Several in vitro methodologies have been proposed to evaluate the antioxidant capacity, such as free radicals: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2 -azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS+), and reactive species including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), singlet oxygen (O2), and superoxide anion (O2-) (Balboa et al., 2013). The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Aurantiochytrium sp., by means of different methodologies: reducing and scavenging activity by total phenolics content (TPC, Singleton & Rossi, 1965), DPPH (Custódio et al., 2012), and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC, Dávalos et al., 2004). The obtained results indicated that the microalgae Aurantiochytrium sp. is rich in antioxidant compounds, by reducing activity through total phenolics and DPPH, as well as scavenging activity by ORAC. Moreover, it is evident the higher selectivity of ethanol as solvent for the extraction of antioxidants compounds. The potential of this microalgae biomass as a good, natural and sustainable source for use as a functional food ingredient is evident, representing an opportunity with additional benefits due to the antioxidant role in diseases prevention and treatment.

Acknowledgements

This study had the financial support by Research and Technological Development Incentive Program – Algavalue Project n.º 17680 – Valorização dos subprodutos do processo biotecnológico de produção de esqualeno e DHA pela microalga Aurantiochytrium sp. – and the strategic project UID/MAR/04292/2013 granted to MARE.

References

Balboa, E.M., Conde, E., Moure, A., Falqué, E., Domínguez, H. (2013). Review – In vitro antioxidant properties of crude extracts and compounds from brown algae. Food Chemistry, 138: 1764–1785.
Custódio, L.; Justo, T; Silvestre, L.; Barradas, A.; Duarte, C.V.; Pereira, H.; Barreira, L.; Rauter, A.P.; Alberício, F.; Varela, J. (2012). Microalgae of different phyla display antioxidant, metal chelating and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities. Food Chemistry, 339: 69-72.
Dávalos, A.; Gómez-Cordovés, C.; Bartolomeu, B. (2004). Extending applicability of the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC-fluorescein) assay. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 52: 48-54.
Singleton, V. L., & Rossi, J. A. (1965). Colorimetry of total phenolics with phosphomolybdic-phosphotungstic acid reagents. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 16: 144–153.

Keywords: Aurantiochytrium sp., antioxidant capacity, Natural source, DPPH, ORAC, Total phenolic content

Conference: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, Peniche, Portugal, 5 Jul - 6 Jul, 2018.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: Blue Biotech

Citation: Pinheiro J, Paulo M, Coutinho J, Baptista TM, Bernardino SM, Tecelão C, Gil MM and Lemos M (2019). Bioactivity screening of Aurantiochytrium sp. for antioxidant activities. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2018.06.00088

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Received: 06 May 2018; Published Online: 07 Jan 2019.

* Correspondence: Dr. Joaquina Pinheiro, Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente (IPLeiria), Peniche, Portugal, joaquina.pinheiro@ipleiria.pt