Vol. 27 - No. 3 MINERVA BIOTECNOLOGICA 131 1 School of Specialization in Clinical Biochemistry “G. D’Annunzio” University, Chieti, Italy 2 Department of Clinical Microbiology University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy 3 Department of Life Sciences University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy MINERVA BIOTEC 2015;27:131-6 A. DI CERBO 1 , F. PEZZUTO 2 , M. BONDI 3 Preliminary evaluation of Spirulina maxima and Ascophyllum nodosum effect on 3 different bacterial strains Corresponding author: A. Di Cerbo, School of Specialization in Clinical Biochemistry, “G. D’Annunzio” University, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100, Chieti, Italy. E-mail: alessandro811@hotmail.it Aim. We evaluated the effect of Spirulina maxima and Ascophyllum nodosum on the growth of one lac- tobacillus strain (Lactobacillus Paracasei subsp. Pa- racasei F19) and two enterococci (Enterococcus cas- selilavus IM416K1, Enterococcus faecalis IM388C). Methods. Bacterial growths were evaluated by plating all strains into a 96-well microplate in triplicate and then reading the O.D. values at a wavelength of 595 nm at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 20, 26 and 28 hours by means of a microplate reader. Results. A growth inhibition occurred both for En- terococcus casselilavus IM416K1 and Enterococcus faecalis IM388C (P<0.01) in presence of any Asco- phyllum nodosum concentration, whereas a growth enhancement was observable at lower concentrations of Spirulina maxima and Ascophyllum nodosum (0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mg mL -1 ) for Lactobacillus Paraca- sei subsp. Paracasei F19 (P<0.0001) and at lower concentrations of Spirulina maxima for Enterococ- cus casselilavus IM416K1 and Enterococcus faecalis IM388C (P<0.0001). Conclusion. In conclusion, these preliminary experi- ments demonstrated that bacterial growth enhance- ment or inhibition may be inluenced by Spirulina maxima and Ascophyllum nodosum concentration. KEY WORDS: Enterococcus - Growth - Lactobacillus - Spir- ulina. S pirulina is a ilamentous, multicellular, blue- green microalga which belongs to two genera, Spirulina and Arthrospira. 1 Its chemical analysis has pointed out a high content protein (50-70%) of dry (15-25%), vitamins, essential aminoacids, dietary minerals (2.2-4.8%), and essential fatty acids (1.5-2% of the total lipid content) 1 which make this alga a useful support against malnutrition, 2 hyperlipidem- ia, 3, 4 obesity 5 and diabetes. 6 Further, Spirulina is endowed of anticancer (mainly due to the presence of phycocyanobilin and chlorophyllin with potent anti-proliferative activ- ity), 7 chelating, 8 antioxidant (due to the high con- tent of vitamin C) 9 and immunestimulating (due to the presence of lipopolysaccharides) 10 and prebi- otic 11, 12 properties. Another widely studied alga is Ascophyllum nodo- sum, a brown seaweed that belongs to the Fucaceae family of the macroalgae. 13 As for Spirulina, Asco- phyllum nodosum contains bioactive compounds such as polysaccharides, phlorotannins, amino ac- ids, amino acids, vitamin and carotenoids. 14, 15 More- over it shares the same metal adsorption capacity of Spirulina 16 as literature reports have shown its ad- sorption capacity for Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Cu and Ni 17, 18 probably regulated by ionic-exchange processes. 19 Literature reports have also evidenced a direct an- tibacterial activity from an extract of Ascophyllum nodosum against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria 20 as well as its prebiotic, 21, 22 scavenger 23 and antihyperglycemic 24 activity, due to the pres- MINERVA MEDICA COPYRIGHT® This document is protected by international copyright laws. No additional reproduction is authorized. It is permitted for personal use to download and save only one file and print only one copy of this Article. It is not permitted to make additional copies (either sporadically or systematically, either printed or electronic) of the Article for any purpose. It is not permitted to distribute the electronic copy of the article through online internet and/or intranet file sharing systems, electronic mailing or any other means which may allow access to the Article. The use of all or any part of the Article for any Commercial Use is not permitted. The creation of derivative works from the Article is not permitted. The production of reprints for personal or commercial use is not permitted. It is not permitted to remove, cover, overlay, obscure, block, or change any copyright notices or terms of use which the Publisher may post on the Article. It is not permitted to frame or use framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information of the Publisher.