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Cascade valorization process of brown alga seaweed Laminaria hyperborea by isolation of polyphenols and alginate

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Abstract

Alginate is the dominant structural polysaccharide found in brown seaweed. The industrial process systems for alginic acid isolation use formalin to insolubilize unwanted molecules like polyphenols so they do not get extracted along with the desired polysaccharide. In our present study, we tested six formalin alternatives that would not only allow us to isolate alginate but also retrieve the polyphenol-rich fraction which has uses in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. Sodium alginate was isolated from the marine macroalgae species Laminaria hyperborea with the aid of a common 0.2 wt% formalin solution and compared against water and polar organic fluids, i.e., pure- or a 50 wt% aqueous phase mixture of methanol, ethanol, or acetone. Beside solute molecular dissolution, several commercial mechanical pre-treatment steps were successfully tested, which showed a positive effect correlation with the yield of the produced alginate-rich fraction. Identification of alginate in the samples was confirmed using FT-IR analysis, where some possible impurities were indicated. Evaluated methodologies mostly contributed to higher biopolymer fractions, which were obtained. Furthermore, it was possible to extract up to 128 mg GAE (100 g)−1 of dry weight of polyphenol-rich fraction in resource side streams, impacting the valorization of feedstock.

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Acknowledgements

This work was facilitated by the BioApp project (Interreg V-A Italy-Slovenia 2014-2020), its operation co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, while the authors also acknowledge the financial support from the Slovenian Research Agency (research core funding No. P2-0152). We thank the company DuPont for providing fresh seaweed.

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  1. Department of Catalysis and Chemical Reaction Engineering, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1001, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Miša Mojca Cajnko, Uroš Novak & Blaž Likozar

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  1. Miša Mojca Cajnko
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  2. Uroš Novak
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  3. Blaž Likozar
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Cajnko, M.M., Novak, U. & Likozar, B. Cascade valorization process of brown alga seaweed Laminaria hyperborea by isolation of polyphenols and alginate. J Appl Phycol 31, 3915–3924 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-019-01901-x

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