Effects of Temperature, Light and Salt on the Production of Fucoxanthin from Conticribra weissflogii

Abstract

Fucoxanthin is a natural active substance derived from diatoms that is beneficial to the growth and immunity of humans and aquatic animals. Temperature, light and salinity are important environmental factors affecting the accumulation of diatom actives; however, their effects on the production of fucoxanthin in C. weissflogii are unclear. In this study, single-factor experiments are designed and followed by an orthogonal experiment to determine the optimal combination of fucoxanthin production conditions in C. weissflogii. The results showed that the optimum conditions for fucoxanthin production were a temperature of 30 °C, a light intensity of 30 umol m−2 s−1 and a salinity of 25. Under these conditions, the cell density, biomass, carotenoid content and fucoxanthin content of C. weissflogii reached 1.97 × 106 cell mL−1, 0.76 g L−1, 2.209 mg L−1 and 1.372 mg g−1, respectively, which were increased to 1.53, 1.71, 2.50 and 1.48 times higher than their initial content. The work sought to give useful information that will lead to an improved understanding of the effective method of cultivation of C. weissflogii for natural fucoxanthin production.