In order to investigate the effect of inorganic selenium replacement with organic selenium from Spirulina Algae on performance and breast meat quality of broilers, a total of 160 one-day-old chicks were used in a completely randomized design with four treatments, eight replicates and five birds per each replicate. The sources of selenium used included sodium selenite and organic selenium from Spirulina Algae which were replaced at two levels of 50 and 100 percent. The organic selenium was produced by the culture of Spirulina Algae and its enrichment with selenium. The selenium content of different treatments was measured by ICP-Mass method. In this experiment, the feed intake and body weight gain parameters were measured weekly and feed conversion ratio was calculated. At 42 day of age, one bird was slaughtered from each replicate and the weight of carcass ready to cook was measured. The breast meat was sampled for measurement of pH and selenium storage. The results showed that it was not observed any significant difference in performance traits and ready to cook carcass percentage among different treatments. There was no significant difference in breast muscle pH at 0 and 24 hours after slaughtering. The amount of selenium deposited in breast muscle of birds fed organic selenium had significant increase when compared with other treatments (P<0.05). Generally, the results of this study showed that 100% replacement of sodium selenite with organic selenium from Spirulina Algae led to increase in breast muscle selenium deposition without reduction in bird performance.

Spirulina platensis is useful because of having special amino acids balance for human and animal nutrition. This study was conducted to investigate the possibility of cultivating S. platensis by enriching the Persian Gulf water by nitrogen and carbon sources in a completely randomized design for 21 days. The experimental treatments were (1) seawater (control), (2) seawater enriched with urea, (3) seawater enriched with sodium bicarbonate, and (4) seawater enriched with sodium bicarbonate and urea. The results showed that there was a significant effect on biomass production between treatments 1 with 3, and 1 with 4 (P<0. 05). An increase in biomass of the treatment four was maximized due to nitrogen and carbon supply, in comparison to others. According to the results, it can be concluded that the enrichment of the Persian Gulf water and its geographical location, the sea shores can be used for cultivation of S. platensis.

Pistachio butter is one of the pasty products made from pistachio kernels. This study investigated color characteristics, peroxide value, fat, protein, and carbohydrate content, and sensory evaluation of pistachio butter enriched with Spirulina Algae (0, 5, and 10%) during three months of storage at 20°C. With increasing the percentage of the Algae, the sample with 10% of the Algae showed the highest protein content (around 25. 4%). The highest and lowest fat content was observed in the control and the sample containing 10% Algae, respectively. The lowest peroxide value (0. 73 meq kg-1) was observed in the sample containing 10% Algae compared to others. The level of carbohydrates did not change significantly in all three specimens during storage. Sensory evaluation for taste, sweetness, color, spreadability, mouthfeel, and texture showed that the sample without Algae and the specimen containing 5% Algae did not differ much. With increasing the Algae level to 10%, the sensory evaluation had a significant drop, and in some cases, there was a decrease in the score. The color evaluation of the samples showed that with increasing the Algae level, the greenness of the specimen increased, a value decreased, and b value did not show a significant change. Overall, The amount of Algae recommended in the pistachio butter formulation is 5%.

Spirulina is one of the most promising microAlgae. It has been used as food for centuries by different population and only rediscovered in recent years. It is especially rich of protein, of polyunsaturated fatty acid, of g-linolenic acid (GLA), and of pigments such as phycocyanin, carotenoid and zeaxanthin. Also it has many applications in food, drug and aquaculture industries. Carotenoids are the most important of natural pigments that are produced in plant and Algae only and have antioxidant effects. In this study for evaluation of pigments,first their standard prepared from Sigma Aldrich Company and then pigments were extracted through solvent by experimental tests. The amount of chlorophyll and some carotenoids like beta carotene, lycopene, Zeaxanthin, lutein and astaxazanthin were determined 4.3 µg/ml, 7393, 741, 6652, 424 and 0.21 mg/g respectivly by Classic extraction, spectrophotometer and HPLC instruments.

Pastilles are one of the popular and highly consumed confectionery products that raise concerns due to their low nutritional value. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the formulation of mango pastilles with Spirulina platensis powder and honey sweetener. The formulation ingredients included 0 to 20% mango puree, 0 to 10% honey, 5.34% gelatin, Spirulina platensis in the range of 0 to 1%, 23.38% water, 33.5% sucrose, 36.5% glucose, and 1.28% citric acid. The response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design were used. The results showed that Spirulina platensis powder contains high amounts of protein, ash, and phenolic compounds. The three-dimensional response surface plots showed that moisture significantly increased with an increase in the amount of Algae, mango, and honey. The minimum water activity was 0.2 for maximum honey and minimum mango and Spirulina. The maximum water activity was achieved for maximum mango and 8.0% Spirulina and minimum honey. With an increase in the amount of Algae, mango, and honey, antioxidant activity, fat, protein, and ash content significantly increased. The highest antioxidant activity was achieved for maximum honey and Spirulina and about half of the mango. The highest firmness was recorded at 2.0% Spirulina and 0.54% mango, and the highest honey content. Firmness decreased slightly with an increase in mango and Spirulina, and then increased with a further increase in mango. The highest color was related to the highest amount of mango and the lowest amount of honey. The highest sensory acceptance was observed at 15.95% mango, 7.97% honey, and 0.80% Spirulina, and the lowest was at 4.05% mango, 2.32% honey, and 0.20% Spirulina. The results of optimizing the functional pastilles showed that the best sample was obtained at 11.67% mango powder, 2.02% honey, and 9.79% Spirulina powder.

The successful aquaculture depends on different criteria, among them, selection of suitable food with required potential is of particular importance. In this study, effects of four diet trial including control diet (without Spirulina Algae) and three diets containing Spirulina Algae were investigated on the growth indices and skin color of Flower horn (Pseudotropheus demasoni). A total number of 180 two-month specimens were randomly allocated to 12 aquaria. They were fed for eight weeks with the experimental diets. The biometric characteristics of the specimens were measured including total length (cm), weight (g), SGR (g) and FCR (g/day). Total carotenoid quantity of the fish was measured spectrophotometrically at the end of the experiment. According to the results, all three treatments that were fed a diet containing Spirulina Algae showed an increase in weight (P < 0.05). The amounts of Algae had no significant effect on length (P > 0.05). Feeding different amounts of Algae had significant effects on the color parameters such as L* and a* (P < 0.05). Therefore, the present study showed that the use of Spirulina Algae in the diet of fish had positive effects on growth and coloration in Demasoni fish.

Background: The production of secondary metabolites in different strains of microAlgae varies and is likely dependent on environmental conditions. Consequently, the production of bioactive substances as secondary metabolites occurs in microAlgae to aid their survival in adverse environmental conditions such as salinity stress. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the antibacterial activity of the methanolic extract of Spirulina platensis Algae cultivated under different salinity stresses against Yersinia rukeri, Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp., and Vibrio cholerae. Methods: The broth microdilution method was used to evaluate the growth inhibitory activity of the extracts against Yersinia ruckeri, Salmonella sp., Escherichia coli, and Vibrio cholerae bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined by this method, and the diameter of the inhibition zone was assessed through the well diffusion method. Results: In the treatment with Algae extract grown under 3.5 ppt salinity stress, the concentrations of 50 and 25 mg/mL extract showed the largest inhibition zone diameter against Salmonella sp. compared to other bacteria. Under 7 ppt salinity stress, all studied concentrations of algal extract exhibited a higher inhibition zone diameter against V. cholerae compared to other bacteria. The results of comparing different concentrations of Algae extract between the two salinity stresses of 3.5 and 7 ppt for each bacterium showed a significant difference (P < 0.05). As salinity increased, the diameter of the inhibition zone also increased for all bacteria. Conclusions: Our results showed an increase in the antibacterial activity of the methanolic extract of Spirulina platensis with higher salinity stress levels. Therefore, cultivating Spirulina Algae in salt water can be a cost-effective and suitable method to produce more secondary metabolites for use in the pharmaceutical industry.