Abstract

Aqueous two phase extraction was employed directly to the cell homogenate of Spirulina platensis for the downstream processing of C-phycocyanin. This enables integrating the process steps of cell removal, extraction and concentration into a single unit operation of aqueous two phase extraction. The effect of different parameters such as molecular weight, tie line length, volume ratio and neutral salt (NaCl) were studied employing PEG 4000/potassium phosphate system and PEG 1000/sodium sulfate system to select the best system among the two. For PEG 4000/potassium phosphate system at 13.12% TLL, and volume ratio 0.45, 90.34% yield of phycocyanin with purity of 0.73 was obtained. In the case of PEG 1000 /Na2SO4 system at 34.98 % TLL and volume ratio of 1, 97.62 % yield of phycocyanin with a purity of 0.41 was achieved. Effect of NaCl concentration shows a significant decrease in K of phycocyanin in PEG 1000/Na2SO4 system as compared to PEG 4000/potassium phosphate system. PEG 4000 and potassium phosphate system was found to be better than PEG 1000 and sodium sulfate system for the extraction and purification of C-phycocyanin.

Submitted: May 23, 2006 · Accepted: March 8, 2007 · Published: August 28, 2007

Recommended Citation

Narayan, AV and Raghavarao, KSMS (2007) "Extraction and Purification of C-Phycocyanin from Spirulina Platensis Employing Aqueous Two Phase Systems," International Journal of Food Engineering: Vol. 3 : Iss. 4, Article 16.
DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1105
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/ijfe/vol3/iss4/art16