Improving an aqueous two-phase process for C-phycocyanin extraction from Spirulina
type: CreativeWork
description: Biotechnology and bioprocess engineering have made it possible to expand production of natural compounds, and markets have moved more towards this direction. An example of this is in pigments, where many synthetic pigments have been banned or pulled out of the market due to health concerns, while naturally-derived pigments are growing in popularity. The algal pigment, C-phycocyanin (C-PC) is a blue photosynthetic pigment of the phycobiliprotein family, found in cyanobacteria and red algae. Algal pigments like C-PC have been growing in demand and the market is expected to grow at 5-7 % annually. Phycocyanin has applications as a food and cosmetics dye, a health product with therapeutic uses, and as a diagnostic protein. Various processes have been studied to recover and purify C-PC from cyanobacteria such as Arthrospira platensis, commonly referred to as Spirulina, the most used organism for producing the pigment. The C-PC recovery process includes extraction, recovery and purification steps. One recovery and purification step reported in literature is aqueous twophase separation (ATPS), which is able to produce high purity C-PC with good recovery. At the University of Cape Town (UCT), the Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research (CeBER) has patented a process for extracting and purifying C-PC from Spirulina using a polyethylene-glycol (PEG) and maltodextrin (MDX) ATPS. This is a less-studied form of ATPS, with most C-PC extraction studies using PEG – salt systems. The PEG – MDX system was studied due to challenges faced with C-PC recovery from the PEG phase. The patented CeBER process begins with cell disruption, a period of leaching into a buffered solution followed by cell debris removal. The C-PC is subsequently purified and recovered by the PEG – MDX ATPS and three ammonium sulfate precipitation stages, and finally dried to powder. The patented process requires optimisation and up-scaling before being commercially applied in industry, the ultimate aim of the g…
abstract: Biotechnology and bioprocess engineering have made it possible to expand production of natural compounds, and markets have moved more towards this direction. An example of this is in pigments, where many synthetic pigments have been banned or pulled out of the market due to health concerns, while naturally-derived pigments are growing in popularity. The algal pigment, C-phycocyanin (C-PC) is a blue photosynthetic pigment of the phycobiliprotein family, found in cyanobacteria and red algae. Algal pigments like C-PC have been growing in demand and the market is expected to grow at 5-7 % annually. Phycocyanin has applications as a food and cosmetics dye, a health product with therapeutic uses, and as a diagnostic protein. Various processes have been studied to recover and purify C-PC from cyanobacteria such as Arthrospira platensis, commonly referred to as Spirulina, the most used organism for producing the pigment. The C-PC recovery process includes extraction, recovery and purification steps. One recovery and purification step reported in literature is aqueous twophase separation (ATPS), which is able to produce high purity C-PC with good recovery. At the University of Cape Town (UCT), the Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research (CeBER) has patented a process for extracting and purifying C-PC from Spirulina using a polyethylene-glycol (PEG) and maltodextrin (MDX) ATPS. This is a less-studied form of ATPS, with most C-PC extraction studies using PEG – salt systems. The PEG – MDX system was studied due to challenges faced with C-PC recovery from the PEG phase. The patented CeBER process begins with cell disruption, a period of leaching into a buffered solution followed by cell debris removal. The C-PC is subsequently purified and recovered by the PEG – MDX ATPS and three ammonium sulfate precipitation stages, and finally dried to powder. The patented process requires optimisation and up-scaling before being commercially applied in industry, the ultimate aim of the g…
author: Hockey, James Temlett
keywords: Engineering
date published: 2022
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:22:54Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37342