CHANGES OF CAROTENOIDS IN HAEMATOCOCCUS PLUVIALIS WITH THE PRESENCE OF LIGHT METALSWong Ling Shing, Fan Wei Jiong, Cheng Wan Hee, Ong Ghim Hock and Sinouvassane DjearamaneAbstract In this paper, the effects of light metals (Al, Li, and Mg) to the content of carotenoids in microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis was reported. In this study, H. pluvialis was exposed to different concentrations of light metals, and the changes of carotenoids were measured with spectrophotometer with wavelength 482 nm. The results showed the concentrations ranged from 0.01 â 10.00 mg/l and the presence of all three light metals caused the increase of carotenoids content compared to negative control. The results also showed that the cells at exponential growth phase and pH 6.5 â 7.0 produced the highest content of carotenoids exposed to Al. The results confirmed that the presence of light metals would increase the carotenoids content in cells, which might indicate the increase of reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress. |