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Separation of phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis using ion exchange chromatography

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Abstract

This paper presents the evaluation of some important parameters for the purification of phycocyanin using ion exchange chromatography. The influences of pH and temperature on the equilibrium partition coefficient were investigated to establish the best conditions for phycocyanin adsorption. The equilibrium isotherm for the phycocyanin–resin system was also determined. The separation of phycocyanin using the Q-Sepharose ion exchange resin was evaluated in terms of the pH and elution volume that improved the increase in purity and recovery. The highest partition coefficients were obtained in the pH range from 7.5 to 8.0 at 25 °C. Under these conditions the equilibrium isotherm for phycocyanin adsorption was well described by the Langmuir model, attaining a Q m of 22.7 mg/mL and K d of 3.1 × 10−2 mg/mL. The best conditions for phycocyanin purification using the ion exchange column were at pH 7.5 with an elution volume of 36 mL, obtaining 77.3% recovery and a 3.4-fold increase in purity.

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Abbreviations

C 0 :

initial phycocyanin concentration in the liquid phase (mg/mL)

C :

phycocyanin concentration in the liquid phase (mg/mL)

C * :

equilibrium phycocyanin concentration in the liquid phase (mg/mL)

P :

purity ratio (A 615/A 280)

f :

partition coefficient

K d :

dissociation constant (mg/mL)

PC:

phycocyanin concentration (mg/mL)

Q m :

maximum binding capacity of the resin (mg/mL)

Q * :

equilibrium phycocyanin concentration in the solid phase (mg/mL)

V :

volume (mL)

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Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge the support of the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and CNPq for their support of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Fundação Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, P.O. Box 474, Rio Grande, RS, 96201-900, Brazil

    Silvana Terra Silveira, Luci Kelin de Menezes Quines, Carlos André Veiga Burkert & Susana Juliano Kalil

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  1. Silvana Terra Silveira
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  2. Luci Kelin de Menezes Quines
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  3. Carlos André Veiga Burkert
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  4. Susana Juliano Kalil
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Correspondence to Susana Juliano Kalil.

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Silveira, S.T., de Menezes Quines, L.K., Burkert, C.A.V. et al. Separation of phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis using ion exchange chromatography. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 31, 477–482 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-007-0185-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-007-0185-1

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