TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of biomass pre-treatment and solvent extraction on β-carotene and lycopene recovery from Blakeslea trispora cells

AU - Papaioannou, E.

AU - Roukas, T.

AU - Liakopoulou-Kyriakides, M.

PY - 2008/7

Y1 - 2008/7

N2 - The production of carotenoids from Blakeslea trispora cells in a synthetic medium has been reported, with the main products being β-carotene, lycopene, and γ-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 Cmax 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 β-carotene or lycopene can be obtained by extraction with the proper solvent, thus avoiding degradation due to time-consuming processes.

AB - The production of carotenoids from Blakeslea trispora cells in a synthetic medium has been reported, with the main products being β-carotene, lycopene, and γ-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 Cmax 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 β-carotene or lycopene can be obtained by extraction with the proper solvent, thus avoiding degradation due to time-consuming processes.

KW - β-Carotene

KW - γ-Carotene

KW - Blakeslea trispora

KW - Lycopene

KW - Purification

U2 - 10.1080/10826060802164942

DO - 10.1080/10826060802164942

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 18569871

AN - SCOPUS:45949095798

VL - 38

SP - 246

EP - 256

JO - Preparative Biochemistry and Biotechnology

JF - Preparative Biochemistry and Biotechnology

SN - 1082-6068

IS - 3

ER -