Isolation and Characterization of Pigments from Algae for Use as Natural Colorants

大多数合成着色剂是煤焦油衍生物，其中许多已被证明是儿童多动症、癌症、胚胎毒性和过敏原的潜在病原体。另一方面，天然色素不会表现出这些不受欢迎的特性，实际上可能对人类健康有积极影响，这可能是由于它们具有抗氧化剂和有毒代谢中间体的活性。微藻作为天然着色剂的来源，目前还未得到充分利用。该奖项将支持评估藻类色素作为食品、化妆品和制药产品潜在着色剂的研究。最初将研究产生类胡萝卜素的菌株。将建立几种产生高水平类胡萝卜素的藻类的培养。将确定最佳生长和类胡萝卜素生产的条件。将提取并测试颜料的制备量。最后对该工艺进行成本分析。如果项目成功，将为食品、化妆品和制药行业提供一种安全、有用的着色剂来源。

Most synthetic colorants are coal tar derivatives many of which have been shown to be potential causative agents of hyperactivity in children, cancer, embryotoxicity and allergenicity. On the other hand, natural colors do not exhibit these undesirable attributees and may, in fact, have a positive effect on human health, presumably due to their activity as antioxidants and traps of toxic metabolic intermediates. As sources of natural colorants, microalgae are greatly underutilized. This award will support research needed to evaluate algal pigments as potential colorants for food, cosmetic abd pharmaceutical products. Initially carotenoid producing strains will be studied. Cultures of several algal species which produce high levels of carotenoids will be established. Conditions for optimum growth and carotenoid production will be determined. Preparative amounts of the pigments will be extracted and tested. Finally a cost analysis of the process will be performed. If the project is successful a safe and useful souce of colorants will be made available to the food, cosmetic and phamaceutical industry.