Raman spectrometry of carotenoids of selected microorganisms

In this thesis Raman spectroscopy is evaluated as a tool of identification and discrimination of carotenoids from microbial biomass. Microorganisms, halophilic or nonhalophilic, belong to Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta and to others. Biomass was cultiveted under laboratory conditions and yielded varied colours. Raman spectra were recorded succesfully from lyophilized biomass by excitation wavelenth 514.5 nm (dispersive Raman microspectrometr) and 1064 nm (FT Raman spectrometer). Results were compared with Raman spectroscopic data from pigment extracts. Spectra of carotenoids are characterized by the main Raman bands υ1, υ2 a υ3 due to C=C stretching, C-C stretching and C-CH3 deformation. HPLC/UV-VIS allows effective pigment separation from extracts and detection of separated pigments by UV-VIS analyzator. Assessment of Raman analysis and its potential to detect microbial carotenoids are discused. Sarcinaxantin is an unusual carotenoid identified together with more common β - carotene. Raman spectroscopic results obtained on carotenoids recorded from colonies which accumulated more than one carotenoid need to be interpreted carefully. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org