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Polarity-wise successive solvent extraction of Scenedesmus obliquus biomass and characterization of the crude extracts for broad-spectrum antibacterial activity

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Abstract

The present research aims to exploit the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of freshwater microalgae, Scenedesmus obliquus, by performing polarity-wise successive solvent extraction by hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol, and water. The antibacterial and antioxidant activities of these crude extracts were evaluated, and a correlation was established between these two parameters. The methanol and water extracts showed the highest phenolic (18–23 mg GAE/g EW) and flavonoid (5–8 mg QE/g EW) contents, resulting in a maximum antioxidant activity (IC50 = 61–76 μg/mL for DPPH and 60–75 μg/mL for ABTS), but a lower antibacterial activity (MIC = 250–1000 μg/mL). In contrast, the hexane and chloroform extracts showed lower content of phenolics (0.3–0.8 mg GAE/g EW), resulting in a very low antioxidant activity (IC50 = 223–278 μg/mL for DPPH and 172–220 μg/mL for ABTS). The hexane and chloroform extracts contained both saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids with carotenoids (4–6.2 mg/g DE) and lipids as their main constituents. Flavonoids like myricetin (0.3–0.56 μg/mg) and rutin (0.24–0.75 μg/mg) were identified and extracted from this algal strain for the first time. The hexane and chloroform extracts were effective on both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, exhibiting the highest antibacterial activity (MIC = 15.6–125 μg/mL). Overall, the polar solvent extracts of S. obliquus were found to contain a high amount of phenolics and flavonoids than most reported microalgae species, making it a potential strain for developing industrially relevant biopharmaceuticals.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), New Delhi, India, for the financial support (Grant No- DBT/IC-2/Indo-Brazil/2016-19/04).

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India [Grant No- DBT/IC-2/Indo-Brazil/2016–19/04].

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  1. Chandan Mukherjee and Pravin G. Suryawanshi contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Energy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India

    Chandan Mukherjee

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India

    Pravin G. Suryawanshi & Vaibhav V. Goud

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Mohan Chandra Kalita

  4. Department of Energy, Tezpur University, Napaam, Tezpur, Assam, India

    Dhanapati Deka

  5. Chemical Engineering Department, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Donato A. G. Aranda

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Contributions

CM: conceptualization, investigation, validation, data curation, and writing—original draft. PGS: investigation, data curation, and visualization. MCK: methodology, writing—review and editing, and project administration. DD: methodology, writing—review and editing, and project administration. DAGA: methodology, writing—review and editing, and project administration. VVG: methodology, resources, writing—review and editing, supervision, and project administration.

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Correspondence to Vaibhav V. Goud.

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Mukherjee, C., Suryawanshi, P.G., Kalita, M.C. et al. Polarity-wise successive solvent extraction of Scenedesmus obliquus biomass and characterization of the crude extracts for broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 14, 2467–2483 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02432-1

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