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A comparison of protocols for isolating and concentrating protein from the green seaweed Ulva ohnoi

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Abstract

We compared protocols to isolate and concentrate protein from the green seaweed Ulva ohnoi. We quantified the effect of three factors on protein and essential amino acid yields and concentrations in protein isolates and residuals in a factorial experimental design. The three factors were starting material (as dry and milled or fresh and pulped), aqueous solvent-to-biomass ratio (20:1 or 5:1 v/w) and the incubation time in the aqueous solvent (incubated for 16 h at 30 °C or incubated for <1 min at ambient temperature). The protein isolation protocols increased the concentration of protein, total essential amino acids, methionine and lysine ~3 to 5-fold compared to whole U. ohnoi and were considerably more effective than the different protein concentrating combinations, which only increased protein and amino acid concentrations by 30–40 % in the residual biomass. The use of fresh and pulped biomass as the starting material, an incubation time of <1 min at ambient temperature and a low aqueous solution volume resulted in the highest protein isolate yield of 22 % of the protein found in seaweed. This study demonstrated that proteins from U. ohnoi were most effectively isolated by adopting protocols for terrestrial leaves compared to the protocols employed for seed crops as traditionally applied to seaweeds.

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Acknowledgments

This research is part of the MBD Energy Research and Development program for Biological Carbon Capture and Storage. The project is supported by the Advanced Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (AMCRC), funded through the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Scheme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MACRO – the Centre for Macroalgal Resources & Biotechnology, and, College of Marine & Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Alex R. Angell, Nicholas A. Paul & Rocky de Nys

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  1. Alex R. Angell
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  2. Nicholas A. Paul
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  3. Rocky de Nys
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Correspondence to Alex R. Angell.

Electronic supplementary material

Figure S1

Turbidity changes (±S.E.) of U. ohnoi proteins extracted using (A) aqueous and (B) alkaline solution (pH = 12) for dry and milled (DM) and fresh and pulped (FP) biomass with changing pH. (GIF 25 kb)

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Figure S2

The concentration of ash in the aqueous and alkaline total residuals (± S.E.) for the six treatment combinations examined in the factorial design (see Figs. 1 & 3). Dashed line represents the concentration of ash in the original biomass. (GIF 41 kb)

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Angell, A.R., Paul, N.A. & de Nys, R. A comparison of protocols for isolating and concentrating protein from the green seaweed Ulva ohnoi . J Appl Phycol 29, 1011–1026 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-016-0972-7

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