. Indeed the high proportion of damaged cells found in SCM
cultures could have been responsible for the lower lipid and carotenoid
productions, as injured cells have a limited participation (if
dead, they do not participate at all) in the bioprocess. As above
mentioned, Takara et al. (2007) reported that SCM contains significant
amounts of phenolic compounds that inhibited bacterial
growth. Indeed, according to Almeida et al., 2007, some phenolic
compounds may act on biological membranes, causing loss of integrity
and weakly acidic phenolic compounds may destroy the
electrochemical gradient by transporting the protons back across
the mitochondrial and cytoplasmic membranes.