Alternative green solvents associated with ultrasound-assisted extraction: A green chemistry approach for the extraction of carotenoids and chlorophylls from microalgae.

This study proposes a method for the ultrasonic extraction of carotenoids and chlorophyll from Scenedesmus obliquus and Arthrospira platensis microalgae with green solvents. Ethanol and ethanolic solutions of ionic liquids were tested with a variety of extraction parameters, including number of extractions, time of extraction, and solid-liquid ratio R(S/L), to determine the optimal conditions. After selecting the most effective green solvent (ethanol), the process conditions were established: R(S/L) of 1:10, three extraction cycles at 3 min each), giving an extraction yield of 2602.36 and 764.21 µgcarotenoids.gdried biomass-1; and 22.01 and 5.81 mgchlorophyll.gdried biomass-1 in S. obliquus and A. platensis, respectively. The carotenoid and chlorophyll extracts obtained using ethanol were shown to be potent scavengers of peroxyl radical, being 5.94 to 26.08 times more potent α-tocopherol. These findings pave the way for a green strategy for valorizing microalgal biocompounds through efficient and environmentally friendly technological processes.

Evaluation of antioxidant and antibacterial capacity of green microalgae Scenedesmus subspicatus.

Microalgae are considered one of the most promising raw materials for the development of high value products for pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmetic industries, as well as being potential sources of protein, vitamins, and minerals for human consumption. Hence, the present research focuses extraction of antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds from Scenedesmus subspicatus using solvents of different polarities. Different solvents such as ethanol, methanol, butanol, acetone, dimethyl sulfoxide, and water were used to extract compounds from the green microalgae S. subspicatus and then they were examined for phytochemical screening, antioxidant activity, and antimicrobial properties. In vitro free radical quenching and total antioxidant activity of extracts were investigated with 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl and compared with catequin and gallic acid as positive controls. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated in gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Aqueous extracts and dimethyl sulfoxide presented better performance in phytochemical analysis. This result showed consistency in the sequential tests. The antioxidant activity was also better using the two solvents cited above. The extracts acetone, water, and dimethyl sulfoxide showed ability to inhibit the growth of Bacillus subtilis. However, only dimethyl sulfoxide inhibited the growth of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. Use of the aqueous extract, proven its effectiveness, is an economic protocol and avoids the use of toxic substances.

Environmental evaluation of flocculation efficiency in the separation of the microalgal biomass of Scenedesmus sp. cultivated in full-scale photobioreactors.

In this paper the environmental evaluation of the separation process of the microalgal biomass Scenedesmus sp. from full-scale photobioreactors was carried out at the Research and Development Nucleus for Sustainable Energy (NPDEAS), with different flocculants (iron sulfate - FeCl3, sodium hydroxide - NaOH, calcium hydroxide - Ca(OH)2 and aluminum sulphate Al2(SO4)3, by means of the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, using the SimaPro 7.3 software. Furthermore, the flocculation efficiency by means of optical density (OD) was also evaluated. The results indicated that FeCl3 and Al2(SO4)3 were highly effective for the recovery of microalgal biomass, greater than 95%. Though, when FeCl3 was used, there was an immediate change in color to the biomass after the orange colored salt was added, typical with the presence of iron, which may compromise the biomass use according to its purpose and Al2(SO4)3 is associated with the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease, restricting the application of biomass recovered through this process for nutritional purposes, for example. Therefore, it was observed that sodium hydroxide is an efficient flocculant, promoting recovery around 93.5% for the ideal concentration of 144 mg per liter. It had the best environmental profile among the compared flocculant agents, since it did not cause visible changes in the biomass or compromise its use and had less impact in relation to acidification, eutrophication, global warming and human toxicity, among others. Thus, the results indicate that it is important to consider both flocculation efficiency aspects and environmental impacts to identify the best flocculants on an industrial scale, to optimize the process, with lower amount of flocculant and obtain the maximum biomass recovery and decrease the impact on the extraction, production, treatment and reuse of these chemical compounds to the environment. However, more studies are needed in order to evaluate energy efficiency of the process coupled with other microalgal biomass recovery technologies. In addition, studies with natural flocculants, other polymers and changes in pH are also needed, as these are produced in a more sustainable way than synthetic organic polymers and have the potential to generate a biomass free of undesirable contaminants.

NMR techniques for determination of lipid content in microalgal biomass and their use in monitoring the cultivation with biodiesel potential.

In the present investigation, the application of NMR spectroscopic techniques was extensively used with an objective to explore the biodiesel potential of biomass cultivated on a lab scale using strains of Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus ecornis. The effect of variation in the composition of culturing medium on the neutral and polar lipids productivity, and fatty acid profile of solvent extracts of microalgae biomass was studied. Determination of unsaturated fatty acid composition (C18:N = 1-3, ω3 C20:5, ω3 C22:6), polyunsaturated fatty esters (PUFEs), saturated fatty acids (SFAs), unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), free fatty acids (FFAs), and iodine value were achieved from a single (1)H NMR spectral analysis. The results were validated by (13)C NMR and GC-MS analyses. It was demonstrated that newly developed methods based on (1)H and (13)C NMR techniques are direct, rapid, and convenient for monitoring the microalgae cultivation process for enhancement of lipid productivity and their quality aspects in the solvent extracts of microalgal biomasses without any sample treatment and prior separation compared to other methods. The fatty acid composition of algae extracts was found to be similar to vegetable and fish oils, mostly rich in C16:0, C18:N (N = 0 to 3), and n-3 omega polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The lipid content, particularly neutral lipids, as well as most of the quality parameters were found to be medium specific by both the strains. The newly developed methods based on NMR and ultrasonic procedure developed for efficient extraction of neutral lipids are cost economic and can be an effective aid for rapid screening of algae strains for modulation of lipid productivity with desired biodiesel quality and value-added products including fatty acid profile.

Evaluation of the measurement of Cu(II) bioavailability in complex aqueous media using a hollow-fiber supported liquid membrane device (HFSLM) and two microalgae species (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Scenedesmus acutus).

The environmental bioavailability of copper was determined using a hollow-fiber supported liquid membrane (HFSLM) device as a chemical surrogate and two microalgae species (Scenedesmus acutus and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata). Several experimental conditions were studied: pH, the presence of organic matter, inorganic anions, and concomitant cations. The results indicated a strong relationship between the response given by the HFSLM and the microalgae species with free copper concentrations measured by an ion selective electrode (ISE), in accordance with the free-ion activity model (FIAM). A significant positive correlation was evident when comparing the bioavailability results measured by the HFSLM and the S. acutus microalga species, showing that the synthetic device may emulate biological uptake and, consequently, be used as a chemical test for bioavailability measurements using this alga as a biological reference.

Copper complexing properties of dissolved organic materials exuded by the freshwater microalgae Scenedesmus acuminatus (Chlorophyceae).

Dissolved organic materials released by the freshwater microalgae Scenedesmus acuminatus were fractionated into low- and high-molecular weight materials, which were investigated for their capacity to bind copper. The high-molecular weight material was also investigated for its monosaccharide composition and is further discussed in relation to the copper binding property. S. acuminatus was grown in batch cultures under laboratory controlled conditions and harvested at the beginning of stationary growth phase when exuded organic materials were obtained. Copper-complexing property of the total exuded organic materials and exopolysaccharides before and after freeze-drying was evaluated by complexometric titrations and Scatchard Plot Analysis of the titration data. The results revealed the presence of two copper-complexing ligands in the total exuded material, but only one in the exopolysaccharide. Stronger copper-complexing ligands are associated to low molecular weight compounds (LogK'1=7.3, LogCL1=-5.6; LogK'2=6.3, LogCL2=-5.1), whereas weaker ligands to the high molecular weight fraction (LogK'2=6.4, LogCL2=-5.6). Although freeze-drying the polymeric organic material (exopolysaccharide) may result in conformational changes of the molecule, no effect on copper-complexing properties was detected. Gas chromatography was used to evaluate the monosaccharide composition of the microalgal exopolysaccharide, which detected high content of mannose and 12% of acid monosaccharides.