Phycocyanin extraction from spirulina platensis using enzymes

This study established the suitable enzymes and optimal hydrolysis conditions for improving the extraction efficiency of phycocyanin from spirulina. Cell wall lysis enzymes (cytolase, rapidase, ultraflo L, and viscozyme L) and proteolytic enzymes (collupulin, flavourzyme, and protamex) were used to select suitable enzymes for extraction. In order to establish the optimal extraction conditions, the changes in the phycocyanin extraction amount were measured under various conditions. The amount of phycocyanin was measured by the sum of the amounts of C-phcocyanin (CPC) and allophycocyanin (APC). The extraction efficiency of phycocyanin increased in the hydrolysates using cell wall lysis enzymes and proteases. Among the hydrolysates, the extraction efficiency was improved when spirulina was hydrolyzed by proteases, collupulin and protamex. It was expected that a collupulin-protamex mixture would improve the extraction efficiency, but the total phycocyanin (CPC＋APC) content was the highest at 3.97 mg/g of dry weight when collupulin alone was used. Thus, the study established the optimal conditions for spirulina hydrolysis by collupulin. As a result, it was confirmed that the total phycocyanin content significantly increased under optimum hydrolysis conditions (5% spirulina and 3% addition of collupulin against spirulina) for extracting phycocyanin from spirulina for 4 hours at 50°C. Spirulina hydrolysis with collupulin enabled the extraction of spirulina as an active ingredient, and spirulina could be utilized as a new nutraceutical ingredient.