| The carotenogenic microalga Dunaliella salina is cultivated as a natural source of ß-carotene. The 9-cis isomer of ß-carotene is found only in natural sources having commercial advantages over the all-trans isomer due to its high liposolubility and antioxidant power. High irradiance appears to stimulate specifically all-trans ß-carotene accumulationin D. salina, whereas low temperature apparently elicits ß-carotene and 9-cis ß-carotene production. We studied the effect of temperature and irradiance on the growth and the carotenogenesis of three Chilean (CONC-001, CONC-006 and CONC-007) and four non-Chilean (from Mexico, China, Australia and Israel) strains of D. salina cultivated under two photon flux densities (40 and 110 μmol photons.m-2.s-1)... |
