COLOMBIAN STRAIN OF DUNALIELLA SALINA AS A SOURCE OF METABOLITES OF HIGH COMMERCIAL VALUES

Abstract

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the effect of stressful and non-stressful conditions on the growth and production of pigments in a strain of Dunaliella salina (D. salina) isolated from the artificial saline of Manaure municipality, department of La Guajira, Colombia in laboratory conditions.Methods: Two treatments were performed, one in non-stressful growing conditions with medium J/1 to 1 M NaCl, 190-µmol. m-2. s-1, 5.0 mmol KNO3, pH 8.2 and another in stressful conditions with medium J/1 to 4.0 M NaCl, 390 µmol. m-2. s-1, 0.50 mmol KNO3, each in triplicate. Population growth was assessed by cell count, and the pigment content was performed by spectrophotometric techniques.Results: It was found that the conditions of stressful influences in the growth and the production of carotenoids of D. salina in comparison with those cultures not stressed. There was a significant difference between the average values of total carotenoids in the experiment with stressful conditions with 9.67±0.19 µg/ml and the experiment with conditions not stressful with 1.54±0.08 µg/ml at the level of significance of p<0.05.Conclusion: It was demonstrated that the stressful condition in the culture is associated with an increase in the production of lipophilic antioxidants, among these carotenoids. The knowledge of the stressful conditions for the production of carotenoids from D. salina isolated from the saline of Manaure opens a field in the use of this biotic resource with biotechnological purposes, production of new antibiotics, nutraceuticals and/or production of biofuels.