3. Spirulina is a biomass of cyanobacteria that can be consumed by humans and animal.
It is a blue green algae.
Itcontains all essential amino acid
Spirulina is rich in proteins,vitamins and minerals
One gram of spirulina proteins equal to 1kg of assorted vegetables.
They are three species.
- Arthrospira platensis,
- A.fusiformis,
- A.maxima.
4. Spirulina plantesis is excellent source of phycocyanin.
Water soluble blue pigment that gives spirulina its bluish tint.
It is powerful water soluble in antioxidants.
Maximum stability of phycocyanin was in the phone range 5.5-
6.0.
5. They are found in cyanobacteria,a type of blue green algae.
Phycocyanin- phyco derived from greek word meaning of algae,cyan
derived from english word meaning of shade of blue green.
Phycocyanin located in photosynthetic lamella in cytoplasm membrane of
spirulina.
Phycocyanin can help fight oxidative stress by blocking the production of
molecules that promote inflammation and providing impressive
antioxidant and anti inflammatory effects.
6. Example
Platensis is used in the food industry as a colorant,especially in
dairy and milky products(fermented milk,milk shakes and ice
cream).
CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF PHYCOCYNIN
7. Phycocyanin structure consists of a monomer formed by two helix
shaped subunits,called alpha and beta,with one bilin chromophore
attached to the alpha subunit and two of them to the beta subunit.
8. The monomers together to form a ring shaped
trimmer,resulting in hexameric structure.
Chromophore called phycobilin.
It is responsible for the blue color of the molecule and it consists of an open
chain tetrapyrrole group that binds proteins through a thooether bond.
9. 50 ml of spirulina culture from exponential growth phase.
Centrifuge at 8000 rev/mint for 10 minute at 4 ˚c in 50ml centrifuge tube
harvested cells are washed twice with distilled water.
Repeated freezing and thawing in 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer (3-4
times)
Centrifuge the tubes at 8000/min for 15 minutes at 4 ˚c.
Add 30% saturated (w/v) solid ammonium sulphate & keep it for 4 hours
at 4˚ c centrifuge at 11000 rev/min for 15 minutes at 4˚ c.
10. Blue supernatant is taken and add 60% saturated (w/v) solid
ammonium phosphate.
Keep it for 4 hours at 4 ˚c and centrifuge at 11000 rev/min for 15
minutes at 4 ˚c.
Blue precipitate is taken and added 2.5mM sodium phosphate
buffer (6.8 pH).
Dialysed against same buffer overnight at 4˚c.
Purity of the collected PC were calculated according to the
absorbance ratio(A620/A280)using spectrometer
