Italian Association of Chemical Engineering - AIDIC
Doi
Abstract
Microalgal endo and exopolysaccharides (EPS) are attracting increasing interest for their potential applications
in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The standard applications of microbial EPS are as food
coatings, emulsifying and gelling agents, flocculants, hydrating agents etc. They present unique biochemical
properties that make them interesting from the biotechnological point of view. Their physical-chemical
properties are interesting for biomedical applications, since polysaccharides have been demonstrated to
possess inhibitory properties against various types of viruses, bacteria and tumors. The purpose of this work is
to upgrade the exhausted culture media resulting from the cultivation of the cyanobacterium Arthrospira
platensis (Spirulina), in order to extract the exopolysaccharides excreted by the cyanobacterium and test their
exploitation potential in a cosmetic context (a body cream). The study results include: defining the
composition and the productivity of EPS by the Spirulina culture, developing a suitable application method for
the DPPH assay in lipophilic matrices, and evaluation of the antioxidant action of these polymers in the
cosmetic field
