Background: Exposure to the pyrethroid pesticide deltamethrin has been demonstrated to exert a wide range of effects on non-targeted organisms. The beneficial effects of geranuim essential oil (EO) as an antioxidant has been assessed in deltamethrin (DL) orally administered mice by studying whether the reprotoxicity caused by deltamethrin can be effectively combated with the geranium oil and the effects were compared to vitamin E, as the standard reference drug. Result: Sixty male albino mice were divided into six equal groups: a control group, a group of mice was given deltamethrin (5 mg/kg b.w.), two groups were administered deltamethrin after having given geranium essential oil (67 mg/kg b.w.) or vitamin E (Vit E) (100 mg/kg b.w.), and two groups received only EO of geranium or Vit E. When compared to control, a dose of deltamethrin 5 mg/kg/day causes a decrease in the epididymal sperm count motility and viability and an increase in the number of abnormal morphology in spermatozoa. DL-exposed mice showed a significant increase of lipid peroxidation (LPP) in the testis compared to control animals. Conclusion: Essential oil of geranium prevented testicular oxidative damage explored by reduced LPP and improved total sperm motility, viability and morphology in mice spermatozoa. Our study showed a positive influence of geranium essential oil in the animal male reproductive system similar than that of Vit E.

This study aimed to maximize biomass concentration, biomass productivity and biochemical composition of the marine microalga Tetraselmis sp. In the current study, Box-Behnken Design was used to model the effect of NaNO3, NaH2PO4, metals and vitamins in the F/2 medium on the growth, total chlorophylls, carotenoids and starch contents. The total chlorophylls content was quantified by spectrophotometry. The FT-IR spectroscopy was used to estimate the biochemical compositions of Tetraselmis sp. grown under both optimized medium culture for starch production and standard culture medium. Finalized NaNO3 (1.76 mM), NaH2PO4 (0.018 mM), metals (1500 μL.L−1) and vitamins (312.5 μL.L−1) concentrations, generated an increase in biomass concentration up to 5.72 g.L−1 which contributed to an increase about 2.4-fold than that of the standard conditions of biomass productivity (408.57 mg.L−1.day−1). The maximum value of carotenoids content (0.3 mg.g DW−1) was achieved at the highest level of all factors. The total chlorophylls content reached also its maximum (5.18 mg.g DW−1) at high nitrate (1.76 mM), phosphate (0.054 mM), metals and vitamins concentrations, while the maximum starch content (42% DW) was achieved with low nitrate and phosphate concentrations (0.58 mM and 0.027 mM) and with metals and vitamins limitations. Thus, the nitrogen, phosphorus, metals and vitamins limitations led to divert the metabolism for the starch biosynthesis. The high biomass concentration productivity and starch production make Tetraselmis sp. strain a good candidate for biotechnological applications.

The increasing demand for microalgae lipids as an alternative to fish has encouraged researchers to explore oleaginous microalgae for food uses. In this context, optimization of growth and lipid production by the marine oleaginous V2-strain-microalgae is of great interest as it contains large amounts of mono-unsaturated (MUFAs) and poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). In this study, the isolated V2 strain was identified based on 23S rRNA gene. Growth and lipid production conditions were optimized by using the response surface methodology in order to maximize its cell growth and lipid content that was quantified by both flow cytometry and the gravimetric method. The intracellular lipid bodies were detected after staining with Nile red by epifluorescence microscopy. The fatty acid profile of optimal culture conditions was determined by gas chromatography coupled to a flame ionization detector. The phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses showed that the strain V2 was affiliated to Tetraselmis genus. The marine microalga is known as an interesting oleaginous species according to its high lipid production and its fatty acid composition. The optimization process showed that maximum cell abundance was achieved under the following conditions: pH: 7, salinity: 30 and photosynthetic light intensity (PAR): 133 μmol photons.m−2.s−1. In addition, the highest lipid content (49 ± 2.1% dry weight) was obtained at pH: 7, salinity: 37.23 and photosynthetic light intensity (PAR): 188 μmol photons.m−2.s−1. The fatty acid profile revealed the presence of 39.2% and 16.1% of total fatty acids of mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), respectively. Omega 3 (ω3), omega 6 (ω6) and omega 9 (ω9) represented 5.28%, 8.12% and 32.8% of total fatty acids, respectively. This study showed the successful optimization of salinity, light intensity and pH for highest growth, lipid production and a good fatty acid composition, making strain V2 highly suitable for food and nutraceutical applications.

The potential reprotoxicity of bifenthrin remains unclear if only the common clinical indicators of reproductive disease are examined. The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Spirulina platensis, a microalga rich in antioxidant compounds, against bifenthrin-induced testicular oxidative damage in male mice. At the first, we demonstrate that administration of bifenthrin resulted in a decline of testosterone level and in deterioration of sperm quality that was correlated with significant transcription changes of some specific mRNA and microRNA involved in cholesterol transport, testosterone synthesis, and spermatogenesis. At the biochemical level, we found that oxidative stress was obvious in the bifenthrin group, as evidenced by increase in malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyls (PCO), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitrite oxide (NO) that was correlated with activation of genes related to mitochondrial apoptotic signal pathways. We then brought, for the first time to our knowledge, solid and complete experimental evidences that administration of mice with Spirulina extract was sufficient to protect against deleterious effects BF in testicular tissues by abrogating the change in antioxidant enzyme activities; the increase in MDA, PCO, and NO concentrations; and the altered expression level of miRNA and mRNA involved in spermatogenesis. We finally demonstrate that Spirulina restores the production of testosterone in mice as well as epididymal sperm viability and motility. These results suggest a potential antitoxic activity of Tunisian Spirulina deserving further attention.

Lately, microalgae have been used as natural additives in fish-transformed products to improve their nutritional quality. In this research, the effects of adding Spirulina platensis at concentrations of 0.5, 1 and 1.5% w/v on both the texture and the sensory characteristics of canned burgers were studied. In fact, the addition of Spirulina platensis to fish burgers improves their nutritional composition. Compared to the results of the other fish burger treatments, the treatments that contain 1% of Spirulina platensis had better texture and sensory properties (p < 0.05). Besides, these treatments showed higher swelling ability as well as water and oil holding capacities, due to the important dietary fibers and polysaccharides contents found in Spirulina platensis. No mold or foodborne pathogens were detected in any of the canned burgers up to 8 months of storage at 4 °C. Furthermore, burgers prepared with Spirulina were distinguished by the lowest mean (a* and b*) values (p < 0.05), which shows that the yellow color gradually diminished towards a greenish color. Because of the presence of polysaccharides and pigments (chlorophylls, carotenoids and phycocyanin), Spirulina platensis considerably ameliorates the antioxidant activities of the newly prepared fish burgers. On the whole, we can conclude that Spirulina platensis can be used as a nutritious additive to produce new fish-based products with high alimentary qualities.

A novel sulfated xylogalactan (JASX) was extracted and purified from the rhodophyceae Jania adhaerens. JASX was characterized by chromatography (GC/MS-EI and SEC/MALLS) and spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR and ¹H/¹³C NMR) techniques. Results showed that JASX was constituted by repeating units of (→3)-β-d-Galp-(1,4)-3,6-α-l-AnGalp-(1→)_n and (→3)-β-d-Galp-(1,4)-α-l-Galp-(1→)_n substituted on O-2 and O-3 of the α-(1,4)-l-Galp units by methoxy and/or sulfate groups but also on O-6 of the β-(1,3)-d-Galp mainly by β-xylosyl side chains and less by methoxy and/or sulfate groups. The M_w, M_n, Đ, [η] and C* of JASX were respectively 600 and 160 kDa, 3.7, 102 mL.g⁻¹ and 7.0 g.L⁻¹. JASX exhibited pseudoplastic behavior influenced by temperature and monovalent salts and highly correlated to the power-law model and the Arrhenius relationship. JASX presented thixotropic characteristics, a gel-like viscoelastic behavior and a great viscoelasticity character. JASX showed important antioxidant activities, outlining its potential as a natural additive to produce functional foods.