Study of microelement accumulating characteristics of microalgae
2011
Milinki, E. | Molnár, Sz | Kiss, A. | Virág, D. | Pénzes-Kónya, E.
Consumption of microalgae might be regarded as one of the key elements of nutrition of the future, as they are highly abundant in bioactive components. As a consequence examinations on fortification and enhancement of the original biological value of microalgae are in the forefront of interest. <i>Chlorella vulgaris</i>, a unicellular green algae, constituted the focus point of our research, being a fairly frequent species available and purchasable in commerce. Emphasis was laid on investigation of extent of microelements’ bioaccumulation in cases of (Fe(III), Cu(II), Zn(II), Mo(VI)), in growth media containing diverse amounts of the metals. Bioaccumulating capability of <i>Chlorella vulgaris</i> was excellent in case of iron, which was studied with a two-week-long experiment in order to get information about the applicability of this alga species for production of functional food with enhanced microelement content. Metal-accumulating capacity of alginic acid being one of the major components of algae was also examined. Adsorption of Fe(II) to alginic acid was the weakest in comparison with copper(II), zinc(II), chromium(III) and chromium(VI).For the estimation of bioavailability of the algae-bound metals, in vitro digestion model experiments have been performed, pointing out that the available amounts of Fe(II) and Zn(II) are considerably higher than that of Cu(II). The studied microalga with high alginic acid content is suitable for application in microelement fortified functional foodstuffs due to the observed pronounced bioaccumulating feature.
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