C-PHYCOCYANIN EXTRACTION PROCESS FOR LARGE-SCALE USE

C-phycocyanin (C-PC), a natural blue dye, has been used in food, immunodiagnostics and analytical reagents. In this paper, the optimization of the two-stage extraction of C-PC from Spirulina platensis cells was studied. First, the biomass underwent different treatments for cell disruption, including drying, freezing and milling at different levels, and the extraction was then carried out using fixed time, impeller rotational speed and biomass-to-solvent ratio. Having defined the cell rupture conditions, the extraction process was optimized, evaluating the effects of impeller rotational speed and biomass-to-solvent ratio with time using a factorial design and response surface techniques. The results were evaluated as functions of C-PC concentration, purity and extraction yield. The optimum conditions for extracting C-PC fromdried, frozen biomass, milled to a small diameter, were an extraction time of 1 h, a biomass-to-solvent ratio 0.16:1, and without agitation, obtaining a C-PC concentration of 13.20 mg/mL, purity of 0.603 and extraction yield of 82.48 mg/g.