Green bioprocessing of protein from Chlorella vulgaris microalgae towards circular bioeconomy. (August 2021) - Azmi, Abdul Azim bin
Graphical abstract: Highlights: Conventional microalgae protein downstream processing is too complex and expensive. Cell disruption by electrolysis had shown to increase protein separation and yield. Protein extraction and purification are conducted under one integrated system. Electric-assisted three phase flotation reached 99.42 ± 0.52% protein recovery. System has potential for scale up with 89.13 ± 1.56% recovery and simpler process. Abstract: The work aimed to study the potential in producing a system with high microalgal protein recovery and separation by utilizing a one-step or integrated downstream process. This in turn enables green biorefinery of protein, contributing to circular bioeconomy whereby less energy, labor, and cost are required for the process. By utilizing electric three phase partitioning flotation system, high protein recovery yield, R of 99.42 ± 0.52% and high separation efficiency, E of 52.72 ± 0.40% system was developed. Scaling up also showed high protein recovery yield with R value of 89.13 ± 1.56%. Total processing duration (extraction, separation, and purification) was also significantly reduced to 10 min. This system showed remarkable potential in reducing processing time, alternatively cost of production, benefiting microalgal downstream processing. Concisely, through this system, microalgal bioprocessing will no longer be complex allowing a wide array of potentials for further studies in this field.