Effect of Biomass Pre-Treatment and Solvent Extraction on β-Carotene and Lycopene Recovery from Blakeslea trispora Cells |
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Authors: | E Papaioannou T Roukas M Liakopoulou-Kyriakides |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Chemistry , Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , Thessaloniki, Greece;2. Department of Food Science and Technology , Faculty of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , Greece |
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Abstract: | Abstract 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. |
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Keywords: | Blakeslea trispora β-Carotene" target="_blank">β-Carotene γ-Carotene" target="_blank">γ-Carotene Lycopene Purification |
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