Extraction of proteins from macroalgae with aqueous solutions of Ionic Liquids

abstract

In the past few years, there has been an increased demand for natural compounds over the synthetic ones. Thus, products extracted from natural sources have gained significant interest among industries and academia. Several of these interesting compounds are present in red macroalgae namely R-phycoerythrin, a phycobiliprotein. However, the major drawback is associated with the demand for more effective, with low economic and environmental impact extraction and purification methodology capable to remove the protein from the biomass, while maintaining its structure conformation and main activities. Therefore, the search for efficient extraction technologies is of utmost importance. In this work, a set of different parameters of extraction was optimized, such as the solvent used. Aqueous solutions of ionic liquids were screened for the phycobiliproteins extraction from the Gracilaria vermiculophylla. Once optimized the time of extraction, the solid-liquid ratio, the solvent, the solvent concentration, and the pH, it was possible to design an efficient methodology capable to enhance the phycobiliproteins extraction in 30% when compared with the conventional extraction methodology.

authors

Margarida Martins

our authors

supervisors

Flávia Vieira, João A. P. Coutinho, Sónia P. M. Ventura

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