Polyethyleneimine as a tool for compounds fractionation by flocculation in a microalgae biorefinery context

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 315; p. 123857
• Main Authors: Ba, Fatou, Foissard, Alexandrine, Lebert, André, Djelveh, Gholamreza, Laroche, Céline
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Biological Physics; Biorefinery; Flocculation; Microalgae; Physics; Polyethyleneimine; Polyethyleneimine; Microalgae; Biorefinery; Flocculation
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123857

[Display omitted] •Polyethyleneimine can be used for fractionation of H. pluvialis compounds.•Water-soluble and fat-soluble fractions can easily and efficiently be separated.•95% of fat-soluble compounds can be recovered in the pellet.•100% of sugars and 90% of proteins remained in the supernatant.•Technofunctional properties of the water-soluble fraction were not altered. In the context of emerging biorefinery for microalgae, polyethyleneimine (PEI), has been tested in order to achieve separation of fat-soluble and water-soluble compounds from Haematococcus pluvialis. Several parameters were taken into account (ratio between sample and PEI, pH, and ionic strength) and 2 conditions (0.075% PEI pH 7.4, and 0.100% PEI pH8.5) were studied for up-scalability, with a recovery of flocculated compounds (lipids and pigments), and a complete characterization of both phases. Using 0.075% PEI, pH7.4, 100% sugars and 89.8% proteins were retained in the supernatant, but some trace of beta-carotene were also detected. For 0.100% PEI, pH 8.5, a loss in proteins content was highlighted (61.2% proteins retained), but no residual lipids or pigments were detected. PEI could therefore be considered as an efficient method to fractionate fat-soluble and water-soluble compounds from microalgae.