A native cyanobacterial strain, Desertifilum tharense UAM-C/S02, was studied as a possible C-phycocyanin (C-PC) producer. Photosynthetic activity (PA) assays through oxygen production determined the proper temperature and range of irradiances to be tested in a stirred tank photobioreactor. The highest C-PC productivity (97 mg L-1 d-1), with a yield of 86.46 mgC-PC gB-1 was obtained at 730 µmol photons m-2 s-1 with a biomass productivity of 608 mg L-1 d-1 and the CO2 fixation rate was 1,194 mg L-1 d-1. The 1.81 crude extract purity value is the highest reported for this genus, which was improved to biomarker-grade purity after a two-step purification strategy comprising precipitation with ammonium sulfate, followed by dialysis. The purified C-PC was almost entirely radical-free using 1 mg mL-1, which validates its potential use in therapeutic formulations.
Keywords: Antioxidant activity; C-phycocyanin; CO(2) fixation; Desertifilum tharense; Photosynthetic activity.
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