Microcystins and Cyanobacterial Contaminants in the French Small-Scale Productions of Spirulina (Limnospira sp.)

Pierre-Etienne Pinchart; Amandine Leruste; Vanina Pasqualini; Felice Mastroleo

doi:10.3390/toxins15060354

Microcystins and Cyanobacterial Contaminants in the French Small-Scale Productions of Spirulina (Limnospira sp.)

Toxins (Basel). 2023 May 24;15(6):354. doi: 10.3390/toxins15060354.

Authors

Pierre-Etienne Pinchart^{1

2}, Amandine Leruste², Vanina Pasqualini¹, Felice Mastroleo³

Affiliations

¹ UMR 6134 SPE, Université de Corse Pasquale Paoli (UCPP), 20250 Corte, France.
² Fédération des Spiruliniers de France (FSF), 34800 Clermont-l'Hérault, France.
³ Microbiology Unit, Nuclear Medical Applications, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, SCK CEN, 2400 Mol, Belgium.

Abstract

Spirulina is consumed worldwide, in the form of food or dietary supplements, for its nutritional value and health potential. However, these products may contain cyanotoxins, including hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs), produced by cyanobacterial contaminants. The French spirulina market has the particularity of being supplied half-locally by approximately 180 small-scale spirulina production farms. Data about this particular production and possible contaminations with other cyanobacteria and MCs are scarce. Thus, we collected the results of MC analyses and total cyanobacteria counts, carried out between 2013 and 2021, from 95 French spirulina producers who agreed to share their data. These data consisted of MC concentrations determined with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using 623 dry spirulina samples and 105 samples of spirulina cultures. In addition, potentially unsafe samples of dry spirulina were further investigated through mass spectrometry, as duplicate analysis. We confirmed that the situation of the French spirulina production stayed within the safe regulatory level in terms of MC levels. On the other hand, the inventory of cyanobacterial contaminants, based on 539 count results, included 14 taxa. We present their prevalence, interannual evolution and geographical distribution. We also suggested improvements in cultivation practices to limit their propagation.

Keywords: BGAS; Cyanobium; Cyanodictyon; Gomontiella; Jaaginema; Leptolyngbya; Phormidium; Planktolyngbya; Pseudanabaena; cyanotoxins.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cyanobacteria Toxins
Dietary Supplements / analysis
Mass Spectrometry
Microcystins* / toxicity
Spirulina* / chemistry

Substances

Microcystins
Cyanobacteria Toxins

Grants and funding

This study was supported by funding from the French Government and from the Corsican Regional Council (CPER Gerhyco project) in the framework of the work of P.-E.P. towards his PhD. The funding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.