Enrichment of valuable nutraceuticals in Spirulina: Phycocyanin and Zeaxanthin

Entering an “aged society”, elderly should be prepared for their changes in the body that can cause symptoms and problems, including eye diseases and medical conditions. Alternatively, to prevent or delay various symptoms is to have proper effective nutrition. Regards to our experience and expertise of the KMUTT Algal Biotechnology research group, this research project focuses on the study of Spirulina to produce higher content of phycocyanin and zeaxanthin, as a health food supplement for the aging society with preventive care properties, or nutracceutical. There are two research plans: (i) Phycocyanin production under stress conditions, light intensity and nitrogen nutrients. An ordinary differential equation (ODE)-based dynamic model to predict high-efficiency production pattern of the pigment, through transcriptional expression level of genes involved in nitrogen use. The model will be finally validated. (ii) Increasing the production of zeaxanthin in Spirulina cells under stress conditions, high light intensity and temperature. Studying transcriptional expression level of genes involved in zeaxanthin biosynthesis in A. platensis, especially crtB gene of phytoene synthase and crtR of carotene hydroxylase, the key enzymes in the carotene biosynthesis pathway. With expecting that the over-expression of the genes could lead to improvement / manipulation of the production of the highly valuable natural pigments in the algae.