Purification and therapeutic potentialities of Phycocyanin in spirulina platensis

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to purify and to find out the therapeutic potentialities of Phycocyanin(pc) present in Spirulinaplatensis. Novel method for purifying the phycocyanin of S.platensiswas developed by freezing and thawing method. Antimicrobial assay was studied by agar well diffusion assay. The stability of the extracted pc was also confirmed by comparing its antioxidants using Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Potential (FRAP) and 2, 2'-azino-bis 3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) assay. Effect of aqueous extract of S. platensiswas investigated on blood platelet aggregation in terms of prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT).Two subunits of pc namely α-pc (15.6 kDa) and β-pc (23.4 kDa) were found to remain from the original mixtures based on SDS-PAGE. The results showed that all S. platensis extracts exhibited great potential antibacterial activities against four bacterial and fungal strains. The study revealed that S. platensis has potent bio compatibilities. The results of the study confirm that the pc can be used as drug, with lot of therapeutic ventures. All these studies confirm the therapeutic ventures of this compound as potent agent.