Paper Details

Effect of saltiness on the growth and production of β-carotene in isolated Dunaliella sp. microalga from qom salt lake of Iran

Faraz Arash Rad, Nilufer Aksoz, Mohammad Amin Hejazi

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.12692/ijb/6.2.164-171

Int. J. Biosci. 6(2), 164-171. January, 2015. (PDF)

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to achieve the highest β-carotene production by Dunaliella sp. isolates from under salinity stress factor. In this study, water samples from hyper-saline Qom Salt Lake were cultured in modified Johnson media and were treated at different salinities (1, 2 and 3 M of NaCl). In order to determine the optimal salinity required for the highest β-carotene accumulation, cell count of Dunaliella sp. isolates; total carotenoids and concentration of the β-carotene were determined by direct microscopic counting and spectrophotometry. In the samples with different salinities, the cell count and the β-carotene content of Dunaliella sp. ranged between 0.46 and 2.12×106 cell.ml-1 and 0.16 to 9.88 pg.cell-1, respectively. At the end of the experiments, the maximum cell content mean and the highest β-carotene content mean were obtained at 2 and 3 M NaCl concentrations, as 1.78×106 cell.ml-1 and 7.40 pg.cell-1, respectively.