Title:Metabolite Profiling of Different Solvent Extracts of the Microalgae Chlorella vulgaris Via 1H NMR-Based Metabolomics
Volume: 8
Issue: 1
Author(s): Hamza A. Pantami, Khozirah Shaari*, Muhammad S.A. Bustamam and Intan S. Ismail
Affiliation:
- Laboratory of Natural Products, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor,Malaysia
Keywords:
Chlorella vulgaris, functional food, biofuel, metabolome, pigments, multivariate analysis.
Abstract:
Introduction: In the present study, profiling of the cultured Chlorella
vulgaris metabolome was carried out via1H NMR metabolite profiling of 6 different
solvent extracts. The results indicated that the six solvent extracts have
metabolite profiles that are clearly different from each other.
Methods: Multivariate data analysis (MVA) reveals that ethyl acetate and
ethanol extracts were well separated from the aqueous extract by PC1 while being
well separated from each other by PC2. The same observations were seen
with chloroform and 50% ethanol extracts. In contrast, the chemical shift signals
for hexane extract clusters in-between that of chloroform and 50% ethanol, indicated
that they have similar chemical profiles. Using partial least square discriminative
analysis (PLS-DA), compounds responsible for the group separation were
identified from the loading plot. Detailed examination of the loading plot shows
that ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts contain significantly higher amounts of
carotenoids, amino acids, vitamins and fatty acids. A total of 35 compounds were
detected from the 6 different solvents upon which the ethanolic and ethyl acetate
extracts were identified to contain more metabolites and in a wider range than
the other organic solvent extracts.
Results: Hence, these two extracts would be more appropriate in metabolite extraction
for analysis and for medicinal purposes. Therefore, NMR spectroscopy,
in compliment with the right choice of solvent for extraction, could be utilized
by relevant industries to evaluate and obtain maximum important metabolites in
a shorter time.
Conclusion: In addition to possession of high diverse metabolites, the microalgae
C. vulgaris could serve as an important functional food ingredient in the
aquaculture industry and may possibly be considered as a source of biofuel.