Chemical-based carotenoids have large implications to health as they may cause adverse side effects. Naturally occurring carotenoids mainly from microalgal sources are emerging as excellent substitute to combat cancer diseases. Astaxanthin is the most powerful antioxidant that derived from selected established microalgae with limited yield. Microalgal bioprospecting may provide the high-yielding sources for astaxanthin production. Hence, in the present research, freshwater microalgae Monoraphidium sp. (NCM no. 5585) and Scenedesmus obliquus (NCM no. 5586) were chosen to explore the unique potential of producing astaxanthin. Identification of bioactive metabolites in extracted carotenoid was analyzed through HPLC. Astaxanthin is identified as a major bioactive metabolite in both carotenoid fraction and β carotene only in Scenedesmus obliquus. Antioxidant potential of microalgal carotenoids was obtained by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. The anti-proliferation activity of the extracted carotenoid from Monoraphidium sp. and Scenedesmus obliquus was evaluated against hepatocellular liver carcinoma cell line HUH7 by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric assay. Higher astaxanthin in Monoraphidium sp. leads to boosted antioxidant and anti-proliferation activity contrary to Scenedesmus obliquus that possess both astaxanthin and β carotene. Though freshwater microalgae have a huge potential to create beneficial metabolites like carotenoids, they are rarely studied in the pharmaceutical industry. This work was the first to investigate the anti-proliferative activity of Monoraphidium sp. and Scenedesmus obliquus carotenoid fraction on the HUH7 hepatocarcinoma cell line.
Keywords: Anticancer; Astaxanthin; Bioactive compounds; Carotenoids; Freshwater microalgae.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.