Effect of salt stress and various physical extraction methods on the phycocyanin yield from Spirulina sp.

Abstract

Synthetic pigments were used as a colorant or dye in many industries for ages, but due to their hazardous impact on the human body (causes cancer, irritation in skin and eyes) and the environment (pollution), there was a shift to biologically derived pigments in the recent years. Additionally, phycocyanin, a natural blue-colored pigment predominantly found in Spirulina sp. has gained researchers’ interest due to its enormous properties such as anti-oxidant, antimicrobial, anti-cancer, and also ease in culturing and maintenance. However, the lack of lowcost extraction strategies, without compromising the purity or quality of the product (i.e., phycocyanin) is one of the major obstacles to scaling up the production processes for commercial purposes. Here in this study, phycocyanin was extracted from the Spirulina sp. (pre-treated with hexane for defatting and with ethanol for depigmentation) using three different physical cell disruption methods (ultrasonication, homogenization, and freeze-thaw cycles) and two different buffers (phosphate buffer, sodium acetate and sodium chloride buffer), and water (as control). Further, enhancement in phycocyanin yield from the Spirulinasp. under salt-stressed conditions was studied. This study focuses on both the upstream and downstream processing of the eco-friendly microalgal pigment production system, which can have a possible application in various industries.