Fractionation and characterization of polysaccharides from cyanobacterium Spirulina （Arthrospira） maxima in nitrogen-limited batch culture

By a sequentially selective extraction procedure, polysaccharides (PS) from cyanobacterium Spirulina (Arthrospira) maxima that can be bio-functionally healthy components were fractionated in four parts including the culture medium (PSCM), the external layers of the cell (PSEL), the cell wall (PSCW) and storage granules (PSSG). The four fractionated parts of polysaccharides were characterized by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) equipped with FID and fused-silica capillary column (15 m×0.53 mm i. d.). The contents of PSCM, PSEL, PSCW and PSSG were about 2.0%, 2.6%, 10.0% and 52.0% to cell dry matter, respectively. Glucose was almost the only monosaccharide in PSSG and PSCW and most predominant in PSEL, while in PSCM, xylose, rhamnose and glucose were the main ones. Two uronic acids represented by glucuronic acid and galacturoic acid, six neutral monosaccharides including fucose, rhamnose, xylose, mannose, galactose and glucose, and two possible unidentified sugars were found in PSEL and PSCM. These data are valuable for the selective productions of high-added value sugars from Spirulina. Foundation item: Scholarship for Ph. D at FPMs, Belgium Biography of the first author: NIE Zhen-yuan, Engineer in biomedicine, born in 1963, majoring in biotechnology and bioengineering.