Screening of microalgal isolates for pigments

Abstract

Microalgae are source of various valuable pigments which have applications in pharmaceuticals, neutraceuticals and as live feed stock. In the present study native algae were isolated and screened for highest pigment content, followed by enhancement of the pigment production. Screening was done to find out the maximum pigment producing microalgae and it was found that Chlorella sp. produced maximum chlorophyll, Anabaena sp. produced maximum phycocyanin, Nostoc sp. produced maximum phycoerythrin whereas Hematococcus pluvialis was a good souce of astaxanthin. Increase in pigment production was observed by the inclusion of carbon dioxide sparging in growth media. Growth measurement showed increase in the absorbance with respect to the days and other studies for pigments such as astaxanthin, chlorophyll and phycobilins showed increase in the pigments comaparative to without carbon dioxide sparging. Amount of chlorophyll a obtained was maximum (11.87 mg/l) with CO2 sparging and 11.27 mg/l without CO2 sparging. Maximum phycocyanin obtained was 0.17 mg/ml by CO2 sparging from Anabaena sp. (DGNB1) which was relatively high compared with 0.09 mg/ml without CO2 sparging. Similarly astaxanthin content increased from 0.21 mg/l to 0.28mg/l by CO2 sparging.