الملخص الإنجليزي
The exploration of biological sources for novel commercially valuable products, or
bioprospecting, has played a vital role in the development of many industries, mainly
including pharmaceuticals, agriculture, aquaculture and cosmetic industries. Microalgae
have been targeted specifically in bioprospecting due to their high secondary metabolite
content that translates to high potential for value-added products. Microalgae grown in
extreme conditions portray a different composition of secondary metabolites than algae
grown in ideal conditions that help them to deal with the stress in their environments.
Eight indigenous extremophilic microalgae have been isolated from Oil fields in Nimr
within the Sultanate of Oman. The secondary metabolite composition and potential for
value-added products has never been explored in Oman prior to this paper, particularly
microalgae grown in extreme conditions, which could lead to new discoveries in the
region. This project aims to study the macromolecular and biochemical composition of
these 8 microalgae, followed by an examination of their potential for industrial use,
specifically as a bio-stimulant and anticancer agent. This was achieved through a variety
of assays that had been modified to work with the extremophilic indigenous microalgae.
The results showed that despite their microscopic diversity, all extremophilic microalgae
showed relatively low macromolecule content, accompanied by a high chlorophyll and
phenolic content ranging between 0.072 to 0.121% and 14.3 to 42.7 mg (GAE) / g (EW)
respectively. Through testing for industrial application, these algae showed no bio-stimulant effects when added to the soil as whole algae. However, they had a high anti-proliferation effect in the anticancer assay. These results help to outline a potential use for
extremophilic microalgae within the pharmaceutical industry and further testing of these
microalgae could lead to a viable, marketable product.
