Assessment of antioxidant contents and free radical-scavenging capacity of chlorella vulgaris cultivated in low cost media

Abstract

The current study assessed antioxidants contents (total phenolics and total flavanoids, β-carotene and lycopene) present in Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) cultivated in low cost media and their free radical scavenging activities. Microalgae was cultured using Bold basal medium (BBM) as a control, 5% banana stem compost (BCM) and aquaculture wastewater supplemented with 1.0 g/L NPK (ANM). The free radical scavenging ability was analysed using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay. Cells grown on BCM resulted in higher (13.73 ± 0.121%) extraction yield than in other media. The phenolic (8.53 ± 0.10 mg/g GAE) and lycopene (0.29 ± 0.008 mg/g) content were highest in cells grown on BCM and BBM, respectively. Microalgae cultured in ANM displayed higher (547.023 ± 34.703 mg/g RE) flavanoid and β-carotene (2.887 ± 0.121 mg/g) content than in other media. Furthermore, cells cultivated in BCM showed highest (97.87 ± 0.088%) scavenging activity than in BBM. These results indicated that the BCM and ANM can be used as alternative to expensive synthetic media for antioxidant production in C. vulgaris.