comparative study of spirulina extracts from the regions of algeria and egypt

Abstract

The aim of our work is to scientifically and nutritionally evaluate Algerian and Egyptian spirulina to show their nutritional value. The spirulina used in this work belongs to Arthrospira, the Spirulina that was brought from Algeria specifically from the Tamanrasset region, and the other from Egypt from the Khatahtba region. Chemical sorting is done through chemical detection of extracts prepared in two ways: decocted and macerated. In this examination, the results were similar for Spirulina A and Spirulina E (because each of them contains active compounds: flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, phenols, and others). We extracted some biologically active compounds by soaking (methanol) and boiling (distilled water). The yield of the extracts showed that the results of the methanolic extract (total phenols) were superior to the rest of the extracts. Among them, the methanolic extract of spirulina E (24.3%) is superior. By measuring the content of total phenols, flavonoids, and tannins, the methanolic extract exceeded the total phenols of Spirulina E (64.48 micrograms GA/g).Spirulina E recorded a higher percentage of chlorophyll A (19.31 mg/g), chlorophyll B (8.09 mg/g) and carotenoids (3.15 mg/g) than Spirulina A. We evaluated the antioxidant activity of our extracts using the DPPH test. The DPPH free radical test showed that the results of the methanolic extract (flavonoids) of Spirulina E were superior to the rest of the extracts (IC50=1.65 µg/ml). We have evaluated the physical and chemical analyzes of spirulina. This evaluation showed that: the content of protein (62.81%), fat (6.39%) and ash (10.87%) in Spirulina E is higher than that of Spirulina A while carbohydrates (22.23%), pH (7.69) and humidity(8.77%) in Spirulina A is higher than Spirulina E.