INVESTIGADORES
SIHUFE Guillermo Adrian
capítulos de libros
Título:
Astaxanthin production by autotrophic cultivation of Haematococcus pluvialis: A success story
Autor/es:
NIIZAWA I; ESOINACO BY; ZORRILLA SE; SIHUFE GA
Libro:
Global Perspectives on Astaxanthin
Editorial:
Elsevier
Referencias:
Año: 2021; p. 71 - 86
Resumen:
H. pluvialis has a distinctive growth cycle, characterized by the alternation between a greenmotile stage and a reddish nonmotile resting stage (or cyst) according to environmentalconditions [2]. Under adverse culture conditions, H. pluvialis cysts accumulate large amounts of secondary carotenoids, particularly astaxanthin, into lipid droplets deposited in the cytoplasm, resulting in a characteristic bright red color of these cells [3]. The thick cell wall of haematocyst cell hinders astaxanthin bioavailability, making necessary the application of disruption methods for improving the extraction procedure. However, these methods can include costly lytic enzymes, large solvent consumption, time-consuming processing, and violent mechanical disruption of the cell wall, resulting in thermal degradation of the unsaturated double-bonded astaxanthin because of the heat generated [4]. Astaxanthin can be chemically synthesized at a price, fraction of the natural one. However, differences in bioactivities and in structural isomerism have been reported between both types of molecules [5]. Synthetic astaxanthin contains a mixture of three stereoisomers associated with two chiral centers that are (3R, 30R), (3R, 30S) (meso), and (3S, 30S), in approximately 1:2:1 proportions. Natural astaxanthin is mainly in the form of (3S, 30S), which exhibited higher bioactivity related to its antioxidant capacity, when compared with the synthesized astaxanthin [6]. Among the most important biological effects are pigmentation capacity of fish and crustacean, cardioprotective and anticancer activity, and antiinflammatory and antidiabetic properties [7,8]. Therefore the growing interest in application of the natural astaxanthin as colorant and supplements for food and feed additives leads to the development of enterprises producing natural astaxanthin from H. pluvialis cultures around the world [9]. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the current status about H. pluvialis culture systems for natural astaxanthin production, highlighting some of the critical aspects of the process.