RT Journal Article
T1 Biorefinery Approach Applied to the Production of Food Colourants and Biostimulants from Oscillatoria sp
A1 Morillas-España, Ainoa
A1 Bermejo, Ruperto
A1 Abdala-Díaz, Roberto Teófilo
A1 Ruiz, Ángela
A1 Lafarga, Tomás
A1 Acién-Fernández, Francisco Gabriel
A1 Fernández-Sevilla, José María
K1 Microalgas
AB In this study, a biorefinery based on Oscillatoria sp. is developed to produce high-value compounds such as C-phycocyanin, used in food colourant applications, and biostimulants, used in agriculture-related applications. First, the Oscillatoria biomass production was optimized at a pilot scale in an open raceway reactor, with biomass productivities equivalent to 52 t/ha·year being achieved using regular fertilizers as the nutrient source. The biomass produced contained 0.5% C-phycocyanins, 95% of which were obtained after freeze–thawing and extraction at pH 6.5 and ionic strength (FI) 100 mM, with a purity ratio of 0.71 achieved in the final extract. This purity ratio allows for use of the extract directly as a food colourant. Then, the extract’s colourant capacity on different beverages was evaluated. The results confirm that C-phycocyanin concentrations ranging from 22 to 106 mg/L produce colours similar to commercial products, thus avoiding the need for synthetic colourants. The colour remained stable for up to 12 days. Moreover, the safety of the extracted C-phycocyanin was confirmed through toxicity tests. The waste biomass was evaluated for use as a biostimulant, with the results confirming a relevant auxin-like positive effect. Finally, an economic analysis was conducted to evaluate different scenarios. The results confirm that the production of both C-phycocyanin and biostimulants is the best scenario from an economic standpoint. Therefore, the developed biomass processing scheme provides an opportunity to expand the range of commercial applications for microalgae-related processes.
PB IOAP-MPDI
YR 2022
FD 2022-08-22
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/24979
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/24979
LA eng
NO Morillas-España A, Bermejo R, Abdala-Díaz R, Ruiz Á, Lafarga T, Acién G, Fernández-Sevilla JM. Biorefinery Approach Applied to the Production of Food Colourants and Biostimulants from Oscillatoria sp. Biology. 2022; 11(9):1278. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11091278
NO This work is part of the AL4BIO Project, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (RTI2018-099495-A-C22). The research was funded by the Junta de Andalucía AYUDAS I+D+I EN UNIVERSIDADES Y CENTROS DE INVESTIGACIÓN PÚBLICOS. PAIDI 2020 (ALGA4FF-P20_00812; VALIMA-PY20_00800). Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 20 ene 2026