Subcritical co-solvents extraction of lipid from wet microalgae pastes of Nannochloropsis sp

In this paper subcritical co-solvents extraction (SCE) of algal lipid from wet pastes of Nannochloropsis sp. is examined. The influences of five operating parameters including the ratio between ethanol to hexane, the ratio of mixed solvents to algal biomass (dry weight), extraction temperature, pressure, and time were investigated. The determined optimum extraction conditions were 3:1 (hexane to ethanol ratio), 10:1 ratio (co-solvents to microalgae (dry weight) ratio), 90°C, 1.4 MPa, and 50 min, which could produce 88% recovery rate of the total lipids. In addition, electron micrographs of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were conducted to show that the algal cell presented shrunken, collapsed with some wrinkles and microholes after SCE extraction. The main composition of total lipids extracted under the optimum conditions was TAG which represented more than 80%. And the fatty acid profile of triglycerides revealed that C16:0 (35.67 ± 0.2%), C18:1 (26.84 ± 0.044%) and C16:1 (25.96 ± 0.011%) were dominant. Practical applications: The reported method could save energy consumption significantly through avoiding deep dewatering (for example drying). The composition of the extracted lipid is suitable for the production of high quality biodiesel.

[1]  A. Gandhi,et al.  Studies on alternative solvents for the extraction of oil-I soybean , 2003 .

[2]  A. Young,et al.  Evaluation of different cell disruption processes on encysted cells of Haematococcus pluvialis: effects on astaxanthin recovery and implications for bio-availability , 2001, Journal of Applied Phycology.

[3]  Ayhan Demirbas,et al.  Competitive liquid biofuels from biomass , 2011 .

[4]  M. D. Luque de Castro,et al.  Soxhlet extraction of solid materials: an outdated technique with a promising innovative future , 1998 .

[5]  M. Hatamipour,et al.  Extraction of aromatic hydrocarbons from lube oil using n-hexane as a co-solvent , 2009 .

[6]  Artiwan Shotipruk,et al.  Response surface methodology to supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis. , 2008, Bioresource technology.

[7]  A. Dalai,et al.  Preparation and characterization of bio-diesels from various bio-oils. , 2001, Bioresource technology.

[8]  Michael J. Cooney,et al.  Lipid extraction from biomass using co-solvent mixtures of ionic liquids and polar covalent molecules , 2010 .

[9]  H. Oh,et al.  Comparison of several methods for effective lipid extraction from microalgae. , 2010, Bioresource technology.

[10]  António F. Palavra,et al.  Supercritical CO2 extraction of γ-linolenic acid and other lipids from Arthrospira (Spirulina)maxima: Comparison with organic solvent extraction , 2006 .

[11]  W. Cong,et al.  Growth and fatty acid composition of Nannochloropsis sp. grown mixotrophically in fed-batch culture , 2004, Biotechnology Letters.

[12]  N. Mahendrakar,et al.  Recovery of carotenoids from shrimp waste in organic solvents. , 2006, Waste management.

[13]  C. Parrish,et al.  Determination of lipid class concentrations in seawater by thin-layer chromatography with flame ionization detection , 1984 .

[14]  Liang-ping Lin,et al.  Ultrastructural study and lipid formation of Isochrysis sp. CCMP1324 , 2001 .

[15]  Curtis L. Weller,et al.  Recent advances in extraction of nutraceuticals from plants , 2006 .

[16]  G. Knothe.  Dependence of biodiesel fuel properties on the structure of fatty acid alkyl esters , 2005 .

[17]  Vijayanand S. Moholkar,et al.  Mechanistic Assessment of Microalgal Lipid Extraction , 2010 .

[18]  J. Waterbury,et al.  Generic assignments, strain histories, and properties of pure cultures of cyanobacteria , 1979 .

[19]  Y. Chisti.  Biodiesel from microalgae beats bioethanol. , 2008, Trends in biotechnology.

[20]  Farooq Anwar,et al.  Moringa oleifera oil: a possible source of biodiesel. , 2008, Bioresource technology.

[21]  Don W. Green,et al.  Perry's chemical engineers' handbook. 7th ed. , 1997 .

[22]  K. Schäfer,et al.  Accelerated solvent extraction of lipids for determining the fatty acid composition of biological material , 1998 .

[23]  Christopher A. Pohl,et al.  Accelerated Solvent Extraction: A Technique for Sample Preparation , 1996 .

[24]  Gerhard Knothe,et al.  “Designer” Biodiesel: Optimizing Fatty Ester Composition to Improve Fuel Properties† , 2008 .

[25]  Michael K Danquah,et al.  Oil extraction from microalgae for biodiesel production. , 2011, Bioresource technology.

[26]  W. J. Dyer,et al.  A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification. , 1959, Canadian journal of biochemistry and physiology.

[27]  Don W. Green,et al.  Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook , 2007 .

[28]  S. M. Pourmortazavi,et al.  Supercritical fluid extraction in plant essential and volatile oil analysis. , 2007, Journal of chromatography. A.

[29]  Christian Wilhelm,et al.  The lipid composition of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana investigated by MALDI-TOF MS and TLC. , 2007, Chemistry and physics of lipids.

[30]  John Ferrell,et al.  National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap , 2010 .

[31]  M. I. Bhanger,et al.  Application of microwave heating for the fast extraction of fat content from the poultry feeds. , 2008, Talanta.

[32]  A. Vonshak,et al.  Lipid and fatty acid composition of the green oleaginous alga Parietochloris incisa, the richest plant source of arachidonic acid. , 2002, Phytochemistry.

[33]  E. Lois,et al.  Effects of fatty acid derivatives on the ignition quality and cold flow of diesel fuel , 1995 .

[34]  Lijun Han,et al.  Effects of nitrogen source and concentration on growth rate and fatty acid composition of Ellipsoidion sp. (Eustigmatophyta) , 2001, Journal of Applied Phycology.