Molecular identification and phytochemical analysis of isolated Chlorella sorokiniana from River Kosasthalaiyar, Manali Newtown

River Kosasthalaiyar is one of the water supplying rivers in Chennai. Though many studies focused on the anthropogenic contaminants of the river, none of them reported on their microbial activity, particularly the microalgae. In the present study water samples were collected from the River Kosasthalaiyar and centrifuged to sediment the phytoplankton. The phytoplanktons were then cultured on BBM medium. The microscopic analysis of the culture revealed the presence of microalga and identified them through their morphological features. The species-level identification was done through DNA barcoding confirmed the presence of the microalga is Chlorella sorokiniana. Further, the phytochemical profile of ethanol extract of Chlorella sorokiniana revealed the presence of alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, phenols, flavonoids, steroids, and terpenoids. In the quantitative method, the total content of carbohydrate (49.15 mg/g), protein (12.31 mg/g), phenol (3.78 mg/g) and flavonoids (2.64 mg/g) were estimated from the extract. Thus, Chlorella can be considered a valuable source of bioactive compounds, which can be utilized in drug formulation by pharmaceutical industries. Ongoing research is currently exploring some of these bioactive organic compounds for their in-vitro anticancer activities.