Production and preparation of material. S. platensis was
obtained from the Ege University Culture Collection.
S. platensis was cultivated under photoautotrophic
growth conditions. Zarrouk medium was used for cultivation.
The initial pH was adjusted to 9.5, and was found
to increase only slightly during cultivation. The culture
was illuminated at a light intensity of 80 mEm−2
s
−1
. The
culture temperature was maintained at 30° ± 0.1 °C,
while the culture was agitated at 300 rpm. S. platensis
were grown until the late exponential phase of growth
(i.e. at 108 h). S. platensis material was collected and
freeze-dried.