Effect of Pulsed Electric Field Treatments on Permeabilization and Extraction of Pigments from Chlorella vulgaris

The effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) treatments of different intensities on the electroporation of the cytoplasmatic membrane of Chlorella vulgaris, and on the extraction of carotenoids and chlorophylls were investigated. Staining the cells with propidium iodide before and after the PEF treatment revealed the existence of reversible and irreversible electroporation. Application of PEF treatments in the range of 20–25 kV cm^?1 caused most of the population of C. vulgaris to be irreversibly electroporated even at short treatment times (5 pulses of 3 µs). However, at lower electric field strengths (10 kV cm^?1), cells that were reversibly electroporated were observed even after 50 pulses of 3 µs. The electroporation of C. vulgaris cells by PEF higher than 15 kV cm^?1 and duration is higher than 15 µs increased significantly the extraction yield of intracellular components of C. vulgaris. The application of a 20 kV cm^?1 for 75 μs increased the extraction yield just after the PEF treatment of the carotenoids, and chlorophylls a and b 0.5, 0.7, and 0.8 times, respectively. However, further increments in electric field strength and treatment time did not cause significant increments in the extraction yield. The extraction of carotenoids from PEF-treated C. vulgaris cells after 1 h of the application of the treatment significantly increased the extraction yield in comparison to the yield obtained from the cells extracted just after the PEF treatment. After PEF treatment at 20 kV cm^?1 for 75 µs, extraction yield for carotenoids, and chlorophylls a and b increased 1.2, 1.6, and 2.1 times, respectively. A high correlation was observed between irreversible electroporation and percentage of yield increase when the extraction was conducted after 1 h of the application of PEF treatment (R: 0.93), but not when the extraction was conducted just after PEF treatment (R: 0.67).