Characterization of phycocyanin collected in Algeria

Cyanobacteria provide a natural source of bioactive molecules that currently have a range of biological activities, mainly antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Given their wide-ranging uses (cosmetics, food and others), extraction methods and their characterization could be a determining factor in the recovery and maximum exploitation of phycobiliproteins in their natural algal condition. The aim of the work was to extract and characterize Phycocyanin from Spirulina, which had been cultivated in the Tamanrasset region. Three characterization techniques (antioxidant activity, flavonoid content and polyphenol content) were used to analyze Phycocyanin that was isolated from the Spirulina strain (from the Tamanrasset region (Guelta at 1824 m altitude (23°N., 5°E). The results showed that aqueous two-phase extraction gave higher concentrations of C-Phycocyanin compared with the other methods used (water, sonification, solvent and freezing), respectively. However, the purity results obtained showed that freeze extraction had higher values than the other methods (sonication and solvent) (0.80 vs. 0.60) and 0.80 vs. 0.55) respectively. At the end of filtration, we obtained approximately 2.5 L of filtrate and 7.5 L of retentate and a Phycocyanin concentration of around 0.625 mg/mL with a purity of around 1.37. Total concentration of polyphenols obtained varies between 6 and 24 mg/g of dry matter. Polyphenols are abundant in the 'BEHATAM' Phycocyanin variety. Our results also showed that the glycerol extraction method produced flavonoid concentrations with corresponding values of 6 mg/g. In contrast, the sonification and water extraction procedures offered the lowest ratios (0.33 mg/g and 0.45 mg/g, respectively). In conclusion, the phycocyanin was characterized, and the results showed that the phycobiliproteins of Tamanrasset has antioxidant properties and abundant amounts of protein, flavonoids and total polyphenols.