abstract
BACKGROUND The demand for colorants from natural bio-based sources is increasing. Violacein is a natural purple-blue hydrophobic pigment with interesting bioactivity whose expression in genetically modified Yarrowia lipolytica production was successfully achieved. RESULTS In this work, several surfactants were tested in the extraction of violacein from Y. lipolytica cells, and the operational conditions were optimized to maximize the extraction yield. After the optimization, the purification of violacein using aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) composed of Tween 20 and cholinium-based ionic liquids (ILs) was pursued. The ABS were characterized and applied in the separation of violacein from contaminant proteins, reaching a maximum selectivity of 155 with violacein being fully concentrated in the Tween 20-rich phase, with 80% of the contaminant proteins present in the extract being removed. CONCLUSION This work led to a conceptual downstream process based on a first step of (solid-liquid) extraction and a second step addressing the separation of violacein from contaminant proteins using ABS. (c) 2019 Society of Chemical Industry
keywords
IONIC LIQUIDS; BIPHASIC SYSTEMS; CHROMOBACTERIUM-VIOLACEUM; BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS; RECOVERY; OPTIMIZATION; SOLVENTS; CAROTENOIDS; DISRUPTION; STEP
subject category
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology; Chemistry; Engineering
authors
Kholany, M; Trebulle, P; Martins, M; Ventura, SPM; Nicaud, JM; Coutinho, JAP
our authors
Margarida Martins
PhD Student
Mariam Kholany
Collaborator
Sónia Patrícia Marques Ventura
Assistant ProfessorProjects
CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UID/CTM/50011/2019)
Projeto de Investigação Exploratória: Sónia Patricia Marques Ventura (IF/00402/2015)
acknowledgements
This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, FCT Ref. UID/CTM/50011/2019, financed by national funds through the FCT/MCTES. The authors are grateful for the national funding through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the contract IF/00402/2015 of SPM Ventura. M Kholany and M Martins thank the FCT for the doctoral grants SFRH/BD/138413/2018 and SFRH/BD/122220/2016. P Trebulle received a PhD scholarship from IDEX Paris-Saclay (ANR-11-IDEX-0003-02).