Recovery of Chlorophyll a Derivative from Spirulina maxima: Its Purification and Photosensitizing Potential

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abstract

Spirulina sp. is a cyanobacterium rich in essential amino acids and pigments such as chlorophyll a, xanthophylls, and phycocyanin. Besides many other applications, chlorophyll a and its derivatives are being studied as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy for cancer treatment. In this work, two methodologies of solid-liquid extraction were developed, and their performance compared; one using conventional organic solvents and the other using aqueous solutions of ionic liquids (ILs) and surfactants. It was found that an aqueous solution of an ammonium-based ionic liquid was able to increase the yield of extraction of chlorophyll a from Spirulina maxima in 25% compared with the conventional methodology using methanol. Besides, the proposed alternative methodology allows the separation of chlorophyll a from xanthophylls using a simple liquid-liquid extraction. The IL can be recovered by backextraction using ethyl acetate, while the chlorophyll derivative is shown to retain its ability to generate oxygen singlets, which is essential to its potential application as a photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy.

keywords

PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY; IONIC LIQUIDS; AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS; EXTRACTION; PHEOPHORBIDE; CAROTENOIDS; PLATENSIS; MEMBRANES; GROWTH; CO2

subject category

Chemistry, Multidisciplinary; Green & Sustainable Science & Technology; Engineering, Chemical

authors

Martins, M; Albuquerque, CM; Pereira, CF; Coutinho, JAP; Neves, MGPMS; Pinto, DCGA; Faustino, MAF; Ventura, SPM

our authors

foto Carla Patrícia Fernandes Pereira

Carla Patrícia Fernandes Pereira

PhD Student
foto João Manuel Costa Araújo Pereira Coutinho

João Manuel Costa Araújo Pereira Coutinho

Director
foto Margarida Martins

Margarida Martins

PhD Student
foto Sónia Patrícia Marques Ventura

Sónia Patrícia Marques Ventura

Assistant Professor

Groups

G4 - Renewable Materials and Circular Economy

Projects

CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDB/50011/2020)

CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDP/50011/2020)

acknowledgements

This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020 and UIDP/50011/2020, financed by the national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology/MCTES. Thanks are also due to the University of Aveiro and FCT/MCT for the financial support of LAQVREQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020). The authors also thank FCT for the project PTDC/BTA-BTA/30914/2017 and the doctoral grant SFRH/BD/122220/2016 of M. Martins.

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Publication Details

type
Journal Article
year
2021
journal
ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING
volume
9
publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
issn
2168-0485
issue
4
digital object identifier
10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c07880
web of science article identifier
WOS:000617925200033

Journal Metrics (JCR 2019)

Journal Impact Factor
7.632
Journal Impact Factor (5 yrs)
7.741
category normalized journal percentile
90.792

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