Raman Spectroscopy for Tracking the Polysaccharides Chemical Composition and β-Carotene Accumulation of Microalgae Food Source

Raman spectroscopy is a detection method that combines Raman spectroscopy and confocal microanalysis. It can provide chemical fingerprint information of cells, tissues or body fluids, and has the advantages of high sensitivity, non-invasive, no labeling, and little water interference. As a primitive ancient organism, microalgae have evolved to adapt to seawater, fresh water, land, and other different species, with rapid growth and wide range of physiological characteristics. Most microalgae can produce many bioactive substances, such as fats, polysaccharides, proteins, carotenoids, etc., which have important development value in medicine, energy, water purification, and other fields. At present, it has been widely cultivated and developed. Therefore, it is necessary to study the accumulation process of high-value add-ons in microalgae cells. This protocol proposes a method for tracking microalgae polysaccharides and β-carotenoids based on confocal microRaman spectroscopy, and visualizes microalgae cells. It provides a boost to promote the accumulation of high value-added substances in microalgae