Two Classes of Pigments, Carotenoids and C-Phycocyanin, in Spirulina Powder and Their Antioxidant Activities
Open accessAbstract
Arthrospira platensis is the widely available source of spirulina and contains distinctive natural pigments including carotenoids and C-phycocyanin (C-PC). In this study, the major carotenoid and C-PC contents were determined in seven commercially available spirulina powder products and laboratory-prepared A. platensis trichomes (AP-1) by an LC-DAD method and a UV-Visible spectrometry, respectively. The correlation of these two pigment content levels with Hunter color coordinates and antioxidant activity was also evaluated. The L* value failed to show a significant correlation with pigment content, but a positive correlation was observed between a* values and the contents of total carotenoid and C-PC. As b* values decreased, the total carotenoid and C-PC contents increased. AP-1 exhibited the highest content of total carotenoids, chlorophyll a and C-PC, and antioxidant activities among the samples. This observation could be related to degradation of these pigments during the mass production process. The carotenoid profiles suggested that the commercial spirulina powders originated from two different sources, A. platensis and A. maxima. Total carotenoid and C-PC content exhibited positive significant correlations with antioxidant activities measured by DPPH and ABTS assays. These results provide a strong scientific foundation for the establishment of standards for the commercial distribution of quality spirulina products.
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Arthrospira platensis is a rich source of flavonoids, vitamins and pigments.
“As it can be seen, Arthrospira platensis is a rich source of flavonoids, vitamins and pigments [28,29,30].”
From Application of Arthrospira platensis for Medicinal Purposes and the Food Industry: A Review of the Literature (2023) · cites this paper as [28]
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References 22 · Cited by 232
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [1]Kim S.K. Handbook of Marine Microalgae: Biotechnology Advances Academic Press Waltham, MA, USA 2015 300
- [14]Habib M.A.B. Parvin M. Huntington T.C. Hasan M.R. A Review on Culture, Production and Use of Spirulina as Food for Humans and Feeds for Domestic Animals and Fish FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Circular Rome, Italy 2008 33
- Authors
- Park, W. S., Kim, H.-J., Li, M., Lim, D.-H., Kim, J., Kwak, S.-S., Kang, C.-M., Ferruzzi, M. G., & Ahn, M.-J.
- Affiliations
- Gyeongsang National University (KR)
- North Carolina State University (US)
- Korea Institute of Toxicology (KR)
- Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Ahn, Mi-Jeong
- Venue
- Molecules
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2018-07-25
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 2065-2065
- ISSN
- 1420-3049 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6222893
- OpenAlex
- W2883576517
- Cited by
- 232
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 17.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Locations
- Molecules (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Preprints.org (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- KRIBB Repository (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Rural Development Administration (PJ01318402, SSAC, Grant# no. PJ01318402, Grant# no. PJ01318402)
- Korea Institute of Toxicology (KK-1709, Grant KK-1709)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities
- Keywords
- Spirulina, Spirulina platensis, Arthrospira maxima, carotenoids, C-phycocyanin, antioxidant activity, pigment content, chlorophyll a, pigment degradation, trichomes, chromaticity coordinates, DPPH assay, ABTS radical scavenging
- MeSH terms
- Antioxidants, Carotenoids, Chromatography, Liquid, Phycocyanin, Pigmentation, Pigments, Biological, Powders, Spirulina
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