CHLORELLA SP. FOR BIOACTIVE COMPOUND DETECTION AND SYNTHESIS OF BIOCHAR, IT’S APPLICATION AND CHARACTERIZATIONS

Abstract

Marine vegetation offers a plethora of plant species which can not only impart bioactive compounds but also have environmental remediation potential. Numerous plants have been screened till date out of which algae are the most promising source for medicines, food, feed, bio-stimulant, additives, colloids, environmental remediation solutions etc. A variety of applications are possible from algae only because of the compounds present in algae species such as pigments (β-carotene, fucoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, astaxanthin, phycocyanin, phycoerythrin); polysaccharides (porphyran, fucoidan, laminarin, and carrageenan); fatty acids (hexadecenoic acid, fucosterol, saringosterol eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid); and some miscellaneous secondary metabolites (eckol, phloroglucinol, dieckol, cryptophycin, borophycin, lyngbyastatin, dolastatin 10, dolastatin 15, coibamide A, and apratoxin A). In our study we have focused on a green algae species Chlorella sp. which acts a functional food due to the presence of different bioactive compounds including pigments like β-carotene, fatty acids, phenols, etc. The algal species have been tested as a source of nutraceutical by β-carotene extraction. Numerous methodologies have been conducted to conclude the highest amount of β carotene extraction methodology. Additionally, the leftover biomass has been used to generate biochar, a carbonaceous substance which acts as an adsorbent and remediate pollutants from waste water. In our study we have studied the potential of Chlorella sp. derived biochar for the remediation of methylene blue, an organic pollutant as well as chromium, an inorganic pollutant. UV-visible spectrophotometric analysis was done to analyse the biochar.