Effect of biomass pre-treatment and solvent extraction on beta-carotene and lycopene recovery from Blakeslea trispora cells.
The production of carotenoids from Blakeslea trispora cells in a synthetic medium has been reported, with the main products being beta-carotene, lycopene, and gamma-carotene. The effect of biomass pretreatment and solvent extraction on their selective recovery is reported here. Eight solvents of class II and III of the International Conference of Harmonization: ethanol, methanol, acetone, 2-propanol, pentane, hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethyl ether, and HPLC analysis were used for the evaluation of their selectivities towards the three main carotenoids with regard to different biomass pre-treatment. The average C(max) values (maximum concentration of caronoids in a specific solvent) were estimated to 16 mg/L with the five out of eight solvents investigated, whereas methanol, pentane, and hexane gave lower values of 10, 11, and 9 mg/L, respectively. The highest carotenoid yield was obtained in the case of wet biomass, where 44-56% is recovered with one solvent and three extractions and the rest is recovered only after subsequent treatment with acetone; thus, four extractions of 2.5 h are needed. Two extractions of 54 min are enough to recover carotenoids from dehydrated biomass, with the disadvantage of a high degree of degradation. Our results showed that, for maximum carotenoid recovery, ethyl ether, 2-propanol, and ethanol could be successfully used with biomass without prior treatment, whereas fractions enriched in beta-carotene or lycopene can be obtained by extraction with the proper solvent, thus avoiding degradation due to time-consuming processes.
Papaioannou
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E
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Roukas
T
T
Liakopoulou-Kyriakides
M
M
D018533:Biomass; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D000077276:Lycopene; D009090:Mucorales / Q000378:metabolism*; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction / Q000379:methods; D012997:Solvents / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*
D012997:Solvents; D019207:beta Carotene; D002338:Carotenoids; D000077276:Lycopene