Abstract
Algal biotechnology has been gaining increased attention to be evaluated in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. Since proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, pigments and many other important metabolites accumulate in their cells, algae are used by humans as the main nutritional support and food additive for various purposes. Algal bioactive compounds such as oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmitoleic acid, vitamin E, β-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin have antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal and antiviral properties and play an important role in the reduction and prevention of foodborne diseases. Bioactive compounds of microalgae should be investigated in order to develop new pharmaceuticals and to provide chemical and pharmacological innovation. Various microalgae extracts are known to have in-vitro antimicrobial activity against pathogenic microorganisms. The aim of this study was to investigate the antifungal and antibacterial effects of the extracts of U. lactuca macroalgae and C. vulgaris, C. minutissima and C. protothecoides microalgae against Fusarium oxysporum fungal microorganisms and Mycobacterium smegmatis RUT, Proteus mirabilis BC6624 and Aeromonas hydrophila ATCC7965 bacterial microorganisms. The antimicrobial effects of the extracts were tested on fungal and bacterial microorganisms by using agar disk diffusion method. As a result of this study, the inhibition zone diameter of algae against F. oxysporum was found to be 53.00 mm for C. vulgaris; 59.00 mm for C. minutissima; 54.50 mm for C.protothecoides and 47 mm for U.lactuca at the dose of 20µl/petri on the 6th day of incubation. While P. mirabilis and M. smegmatis were resistant to the extracts of all macro - microalgae species used in the study, A. hydrofila were determined as the sensitive bacteria.