The effects of spirulina on allergic rhinitis

Abstract The prevalence of allergic rhinitis is increasing globally due to various causes. It affects the quality life of a large group of people in all around the world. Allergic rhinitis still remains inadequately controlled with present medical means. The need of continuous medical therapy makes individuals anxious about the side effects of the drugs. So there is a need for an alternative strategy. Effects of spirulina, tinospora cordifolia and butterbur were investigated recently on allergic rhinitis in just very few investigations. Spirulina represents a blue-green alga that is produced and commercialized as a dietary supplement for modulating immune functions, as well as ameliorating a variety of diseases. This double blind, placebo controlled study, evaluated the effectiveness and tolerability of spirulina for treating patients with allergic rhinitis. Spirulina consumption significantly improved the symptoms and physical findings compared with placebo (P \ 0.001***) including nasal discharge, sneezing, nasal congestion and itching. Spirulina is clinically effective on allergic rhinitis when compared with placebo. Further studies should be performed in order to clarify the mechanism of this effect

Nitzschia sp. ve Nanofrustulum shiloi’ nin farklı stres koşulları altında yağ içeriğinin belirlenmesi

Mikroalgler besin zincirinin birinci halkasını oluşturan ticari öneme sahip mikroskobik canlılardır. Mikroalglerin diğer bir kolu olan diyatomlar, ökaryotik canlılar olup, tek hücreli yada koloni halinde yaşarlar. Diğer mikroalglerden ayıran en önemli özellikleri, bol miktarda silis içermeleridir. Ticari değere sahip olup, petrol işleri, deniz suyu kirlilik oranı tespiti, kozmetik kremler, gıda sanayisi, inşaat sanayisinde oldukça rağbet görmektedir. Ayrıca sahip olduğu yağ içeriği, biyodizel alanındaki çeşitli çalışmalarda kullanılmaktadır. Bu çalışmada kesikli üretimde Nitzschia sp. ve Nanofrustulum shiloi’nin ışık yoğunluğu gibi fiziksel ve azot, demir ve bakır gibi farklı kimyasal konsantrasyonların spesifik büyüme hızı, ikilenme süresi, karotenoid miktarı, biyokütle ve yağ içeriğindeki değişimlerin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Türlerin kendi kültür ortamları ve farklı stres koşulları altında hazırlanan kültürler içerisinde, morfolojik ve biyokimyasal içerikleri belirlenmiştir. Çalışmada optik yoğunluk, hücre sayımı, fukoksantin, klorofil-a, yağ miktarlarındaki değişimler belirlenmiştir. HPLC-DAD cihazı yardımıyla karotenoidlerdeki değişimler ve ARGEFAR GC-FID cihazıyla da toplam yağ asit içerikleri belirlenmiştir. Kültürler ortam sıcaklığı 20±1ºC ve pH 8.2-8.5 sabit tutularak, ışık şiddeti 30 ile 300 μmol m-2sec-1 arası, azot 0 ile 2 g L-1, demir 0 ile 15,8 mg L-1, bakır 0 ile 1,49 mg L-1 konsantrasyonları kullanılmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda Nitzschia sp. için en iyi spesifik büyüme hızı, azot konsantrasyonunun 2 g L-1 olduğu stress koşulunda, 0,27 gün-1 çıkmıştır. Nanofrustulum shiloi için en iyi spesifik büyüme hızı ise azot konsantrasyonunun 2 g L-1 olduğu stress koşulunda 0,36 gün-1 olarak belirlenmiştir. İkilenme süreleri için yapılan hesaplamalarda, Nitzchia sp. için en iyi değer azot konsantrasyonunun 2 gL-1 olduğu stres koşulunda, 2,54 gün çıkmıştır. Nanofrustulum shiloi için azot konsantrasyonunun 2 g L-1 olduğu stres koşulunda, 1,88 gün olduğu belirlenmiştir. Biyokütle ölçümlerinde ise çıkan sonuçlarda, Nitzschia sp. için en iyi sonuç bakır konsantrasyonunun 1,49 mg L-1 koşulunda 0,27 g L-1, Nanofrustulum shiloi için azot konsantrasyonunun 2 g L-1 koşulunda 0,68 g L-1 olduğu görülmüştür. Yapılan fukoksantin HPLC ölçümlerinde Nitzschia sp. için en yüksek değer düşük ışık şiddetinde 8,47 mg mL-1, Nanofrustulum shiloi için en yüksek değer demir konsantrasyonunun 15,8 mg L-1 olduğu stres koşulunda 7,83 mg mL-1 ölçülmüştür. Yüzdesel yağ içeriği olarak ise Nitzschia sp. için en yüksek değer azot konsantrasyonunun 2 g L-1 stres koşulunda %37,8, Nanofrustulum shilio için ise demir konsantrasyonunun 15,8 mg L-1 olduğu koşulda %17,8 olduğu görülmüştür. Nitzschia sp.’nin doymuş yağ asidi yüzdesi en yüksek, ışık yoğunluğunun 30 μmol m-2 sec-1 olduğu stres koşulunda %67,3 , tekli doymamış yağ asidi yüzdesi en yüksek, bakır konsantrasyonunun 1,49 mg L-1 olduğu stres koşulunda %63,6 , çoklu doymamış yağ asidi yüzdesi en yüksek, demir konsantrasyonunun 0 g L-1 olduğu stres koşulunda %9,71 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Nanofrustulum shiloi’nin doymuş yağ asidi yüzdesi en yüksek, bakır konsantrasyonunun 1,49 mg L-1 olduğu stres koşulunda %74,4 , tekli doymamış yağ asidi yüzdesi en yüksek, azot konsantrasyonunun 0 g L-1 olduğu stres koşulunda %37,4, çoklu doymamış yağ asidi içeriği en yüksek, bakır konsantrasyonunun 1,49 mg L-1 olduğu stres koşulunda %20,2 olarak hesaplanmıştır.Microalgae are microscopic organisms with commercial value that constitute the first pace of the food chain. Diatoms, substation of microalgae, are eukaryotic organisms and live in a colony or single cell. Their most important feature is that they contain plenty of silica. It has commercial value and is very popular in petroluem Works, sea water pollution rate determination, cosmetic product, food industry and construction industry. In addition, the oil content that it possesses has led to various studies in the production of biodiesel. In this study, batch culture of Nitzschia sp. and Nanofrustulum shiloi are aimed to determine the specific growth rates of different chemical concentrations, such as light and nitrogen, iron and copper, as well as the changes in the content of carotenoid, biomass and fatty acids content. Morphological and biochemical contents of cultures prepared under different culture conditions and different stress conditions of the species have been determined optical density, cell count, fucoxanthin, chlorophyll-a, amount of total fatty acids were measured. The changes in carotenoids with the help of HPLC-DAD and the total fatty acids content were determined with ARGEFAR GC-FID. The cultures were incubated at ambient temperature of 20 ± 1ºC and pH 8.2-8.5 with light intensity of 30 to 300 μmol m-2 sec-1, nitrogen 0 to 2 g L-1, iron 0 to 15.8 mg L-1, copper 0 to 1.49 mg L-1 concentrations were used. As a result of the study, Nitzschia sp., the best specific growth rate was 0.27 days-1 under the stress condition that the nitrogen concentration was 2 g L-1. The best specific growth rate for the Nanofrustulum shiloi was 0.36 days-1 in the stress condition where the nitrogen concentration was 2 g L-1. The best value for the doubling time of Nitzchia sp. is 2.54 days-1 where stress condition that the nitrogen concentration was 2 g L-1. It was determined that the nitrogen concentration for the Nanofrustulum shiloi was 1.88 days under the stress condition of 2 g L-1. For biomass weights, the best value for Nitzschia sp. is 0.27 g L-1 where copper concentration was 1.49 mg L-1 and the best value for Nanofrustulum shiloi is 0.68 g L-1 where nitrogen concentration is 0.68 g L-1. HPLC measurements showed that Nitzschia sp. the highest value was measured as 8.47 mg mL-1 at low light intensity and 7.83 mg mL-1 at the stress condition where the highest iron concentration was 15.8 g L-1 for the Nanofrustulum shiloi. The fat content for Nitzschia sp. was found to be 37.8% in 2 g L-1 nitrogen concentration. For Nanofrustulum shiloi was found to be 17.8% in 15.8 g L-1 iron concentration. The highest percentage of saturated fatty acid in the Nitzschia sp. was found to be 67.3% in the stress condition with the light intensity of 30 μmol m-2 sec-1, the highest percentage of monounsaturated fatty acid was 63,6% in the stress condition of copper concentration was 1.49 mg L-1, the highest percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acid was 9.71% in the stress comdition of iron concentration was 0 g L-1. The highest percentage of saturated fatty acid in the Nanofrustulum shiloi was found to be 74.4% in the stress condition of copper concentration was 1,49 mg L-1, the highest percentage of monounsaturated fatty acid was 37.4% in the stress condition of nitrogen concentration was 0 g L-1, the highest percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acid was 20.2% in the stress comdition of copper concentration was 1.49 mg L-1

Evaluation of culture conditions of locally isolated Dunaliella salina strain EgeMacc-024

WOS: 000344825400005The aim of this study was to optimize physical parameters such as light intensity, temperature and agitation rate which might affect the cultivation of Dunaliella sauna strain EgeMacc-024. For this purpose, a set of experiments were designed by central composite design using response surface methodology to statistically evaluate the findings. The optimal growth conditions were found at 22.09 degrees C under the light intensity of 55.75 mu mol photons m(-2) s(-1) at the agitation rate of 148.73 rpm with the chlorophyll-a concentration of 6.47 mg/L, whereas the protein amount was 14.87 mu g/100 mu L at 27.97 degrees C under the light intensity of 57.5 mu mol photons m(-2) s(-1) with the agitation rate of 166.08 rpm for D. salina. The maximum specific growth rate of 0.22 day(-1), which corresponded to the doubling time of 3.15 day, was obtained for D. salina under determined conditions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.European CommunityEuropean Community (EC) [FP7-2010-245137]This study is a part of MAREX (Novel marine bioactive compounds for European industries) project and the authors wish to thank the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2010-2014) under grant agreement no. FP7-2010-245137 for the financial support

Agricultural fertilizers as economical alternative for cultivation of Haematococcus pluvialis

WOS: 000245288900002PubMed ID: 18050940A Haematococcus pluvialis strain isolated from the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey was investigated as regards its adaptation to laboratory conditions and maximum growth rate. In the first stage of the experiment, the growth of H. pluvialis was compared in common culture media. Furthermore, in an effort to minimize the culture costs, the second stage of the experiment compared the growth rate in the culture medium selected in the first stage with that in commercial plant fertilizers. The results demonstrated that the maximum cell concentration of 0.90 g/l, corresponding to a growth rate of 0.150 d(-1), was found with an N-P-K 20:20:20 fertilizer under a light intensity of 75 mu mol photons m(-2) s(-1) on the 12(th) day of cultivation

Phycocyanin Extraction From Frozen and Freeze-Dried Biomass of Pseudanabaena sp. by Using Mild Cell Disruption Methods

Phycocyanin is a precious, natural, blue coloured pigment-protein complex that has commercial value and wide application in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceutical industries. In the present study, we performed various cell disruption methods (ultrasonication, homogenization, freeze/thaw and CaCl2 extraction) for phycocyanin extraction from different forms of biomass of a thermophilic Pseudanabaena sp. that has a high potential to produce high-quality phycocyanin. Using potassium phosphate buffer and ultrasonic bath method, we achieved the highest phycocyanin yield (345 mgPC.g-biomass) from freeze-dried biomass and we obtained increased yield as the duration of application increases. Phycocyanin yields were calculated as 345 mgPC.g-biomass, 255 mgPC.g-biomassand 220 mgPC.g-biomass for 5, 10 and 15 min, respectively. In this study, cell disruption methods have determined significantly more effective on freeze-dried biomass rather than frozen biomass. Phycocyanin content of freeze-dried biomass was analysed after six months of storage and dramatic decrement was observed in the phycocyanin content of the cells