Abstract
Phycocyanin is a blue natural food colorant with multiple health benefits. Here we propose an efficient phycocyanin extraction method from Arthrospira platensis from Mexico. Three extraction methods were applied to optimize the extraction process, using water and buffer as solvents, with three pH values at two agitation times. The highest phycocyanin, 54.65 mg/g, was extracted from dry biomass with water as a solvent using an ultrasonication bar. The optimum condition of extraction was determined to be 1:50 biomass/solvent ratio for dry biomass, with the freeze/thaw method for 20 min repeated twice, and then agitated at 120 rpm for 24 h. The phycocyanin content was 48.88 mg/g biomass, with a purity of 0.47. For scalable phycocyanin productivity, the sonication method is recommended as there is no statistical difference. The phycocyanin stability was best at − 20 °C storage temperature at pH 7 for 35 days. Partial purification with ammonium sulfate was found to be suitable as a fractional precipitation method, first at 0–20% and then 20–65%, to get purity nearly 1. Total protein was found to be 55.52%, and total amino acids after phycocyanin extraction was 33%. The maximum phycocyanin yield using water as a solvent was the most interesting result regardless of the method used for extraction.
Highlights
Phycocyanin is a pigment-protein complex in the lightharvesting phycobiliprotein family, present along with allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin [1]
Platensis by standard extraction method The extraction of phycocyanin was done with the method mentioned above, showing an intense blue color and a remarkable crude phycocyanin content of 0.286 g/g, which was 28.6% of the dry biomass with a purity of 0.46
It was found that there was a maximum amount of C-PC in Arthrospira sp. of 17.5% of the dry biomass, compared to Phormidium sp. (4.1%) and Lyngbya sp. (3.9%), while allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin were present in lower amounts
Summary
Phycocyanin is a pigment-protein complex in the lightharvesting phycobiliprotein family, present along with allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin [1]. It is a light blue color pigment, and absorbs orange and red light at 620 nm and emits fluorescence at approximately 650 nm. Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) draws attention because of its nutritional and medicinal properties [3]. Phycocyanin extracted from S. platensis showed health benefits, such as improved immune function, regeneration of zooblasts, and inhibition of cancer cell growth [8,9,10]. It is vital to include phycocyanin as a functional food ingredient to fight or prevent cancer and as an antioxidant-enriched supplement.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
