''Porphyridium cruentum'' is a species of

red algae Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions ongoing. The majority ...

in the family

Porphyridiophyceae Porphyridiophyceae is a class of red algae Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species ...

. The microalga ''Porphyridium sp''. is a potential source for several products like fatty acids, lipids, cell-wall polysaccharides and pigments . The polysaccharides of this species are sulphated and their structure gives rise to some unique properties that could lead to a broad range of industrial and pharmaceutical applications. Additionally, ''P. cruentum'' biomass contains carbohydrates of up to 57% have been reported. Thus, the combined amount of carbohydrates in biomass and exopolysaccharides of this microalga could potentially provide the source for bio-fuel and pharmaceutical. This algae contains phycoerythrin that can be extracted by lyse and chromatography. The genus ''Porphyridium'' has been classified among

blue-green Blue-green is the color that is between green and blue. It belongs to the cyan family of colors. Variations Cyan (aqua) Cyan, also called aqua, is the blue-green color that is between blue and green on a modern RGB color wheel. The ...

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

, and

green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

.Copeland, H. F. (1956). ''The Classification of Lower Organisms''. Palo Alto: Pacific Books, p. 41

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q747158 Porphyridiophyceae Algaculture Algae biofuels