Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Lutein from <i>Scenedesmus almeriensis</i>

oleh: Sanjeet Mehariya, Angela Iovine, Giuseppe Di Sanzo, Vincenzo Larocca, Maria Martino, Gian Paolo Leone, Patrizia Casella, Despina Karatza, Tiziana Marino, Dino Musmarra, Antonio Molino

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2019-04-01

Deskripsi

Lutein has several benefits for human health, playing an important role in the prevention of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, amelioration of the first stages of atherosclerosis, and some types of cancer. In this work, the <i>Scenedesmus almeriensis</i> microalga was used as a natural source for the supercritical fluid (SF) extraction of lutein. For this purpose, the optimization of the main parameters affecting the extraction, such as biomass pre-treatment, temperature, pressure, and carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) flow rate, was performed. In the first stage, the effect of mechanical pre-treatment (diatomaceous earth (DE) and biomass mixing in the range 0.25&#8211;1 DE/biomass; grinding speed varying between 0 and 600 rpm, and pre-treatment time changing from 2.5 to 10 min), was evaluated on lutein extraction efficiency. In the second stage, the influence of SF-CO<sub>2</sub> extraction parameters such as pressure (25&#8211;55 MPa), temperature (50 and 65 &#176;C), and CO<sub>2</sub> flow rate (7.24 and 14.48 g/min) on lutein recovery and purity was investigated. The results demonstrated that by increasing temperature, pressure, and CO<sub>2</sub> flow rate lutein recovery and purity were improved. The maximum lutein recovery (~98%) with purity of ~34% was achieved operating at 65 &#176;C and 55 MPa with a CO<sub>2</sub> flow rate of 14.48 g/min. Therefore, optimum conditions could be useful in food industries for lutein supplementation in food products.