Extraction of Carotenoids and Fatty Acids from Microalgae Using Supercritical Technology

Lourdes Casas Cardoso, Casimiro Mantell Serrano, Miguel Rodríguez Rodríguez, Enrique J. Martínez de la Ossa, Luis M. Lubián

Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technology, Faculty of Science, University of Cadiz, International Agri-Food Campus of Excellence, Cadiz, Spain.
Institute for Marine Science of Andalucia (CSIC), Cadiz, Spain.

DOI: 10.4236/ajac.2012.312A116                

Abstract

The work described here is based on a comparative study of carotenoids and fatty acids extracted from Synechococcus sp. with (1) pure supercritical CO₂, (2) CO₂ with 5% (v/v) ethanol as cosolvent and (3) ultrasound-assisted extraction using N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF). The effects of extraction conditions on supercritical CO₂ extraction with and within cosolvent were analyzed at different temperatures (40℃, 50℃ and 60℃) and pressures (200, 300 and 400 bars). SFE with CO₂ proved to be the most selective method for the extraction of β-carotene, but under these conditions the contents of zeaxanthin and fatty acids were only comparable to or lower than those obtained with techniques that use SFE cosolvent. The SFE technique with CO₂ and ethanol simultaneously extracted β-carotene and zeaxanthin and not only increased the concentrations of fatty acids obtained, but also helped to remove fatty acids (palmitoleic and linolenic acid) that were not obtained with pure CO₂. Comparison of the supercritical technology with the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) shows that the former technique is the most appropriate due to the fact that ethanol is generally regarded as a safe solvent in comparison to DMF.

Keywords

Carotenoids; Fatty Acids; Synechococcus sp.; Supercritical Technology; Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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