Extraction and Separation of Phycocyanin from <i>Spirulina</i> using Aqueous Two-Phase Systems of Ionic Liquid and Salt

Abstract

To explore a new and simple rapid extraction and purification technique for phycocyanin, an ionic liquids(ILs)-based aqueous two-phase system(ATPS) was developed for the purification of phycocyanin from <i>Spirulina</i> extracts. Effects of various process parameters such as the concentrations of [Bmim]Cl, the concentrations of KH<SUB>2</SUB>PO<SUB>4</SUB>, the concentrations of crude phycocyanin, the system pH and the temperature on partitioning of phycocyanin were evaluated. The obtained data indicated that phycocyanin was preferentially partitioned into the ILs-rich phase and the ATPS composed of 23% (w/w) [Bmim]Cland 29% (w/w) KH<SUB>2</SUB>PO<SUB>4</SUB> at 30°C and pH 7.0 showed good selectivity on phycocyanin. Under the optimum conditions, phycocyanin with a purity of 3.98 and yield of about 90.23 % was obtained. Therefore, ILs-based ATPS was an effective method for partitioning and recovery of phycocyanin from <i>Spirulina</i> extracts.