Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Two Classes of Pigments, Carotenoids and C-Phycocyanin, in Spirulina Powder and Their Antioxidant Activities

Woo Sung Park
,
Hye-Jin Kim
,
Min Li
ORCID logo ,
Dong-Hoon Lim
,
Jungmin Kim
,
Sang-Soo Kwak
,
Chang-Min Kang
,
Mario G. Ferruzzi
* ,
Mi-Jeong Ahn
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 24 July 2018 / Approved: 25 July 2018 / Online: 25 July 2018 (06:19:11 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

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. Two Classes of Pigments, Carotenoids and C-Phycocyanin, in Spirulina Powder and Their Antioxidant Activities. Molecules 2018, 23, 2065. 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. Two Classes of Pigments, Carotenoids and C-Phycocyanin, in Spirulina Powder and Their Antioxidant Activities. Molecules 2018, 23, 2065.

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Arthrospira platensis; carotenoids; natural pigments; spirulina powder; C-phycocyanin; antioxidant activity

Subject

Chemistry and Materials Science, Food Chemistry

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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