Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Astaxanthin, Lutein, and Fatty Acids from Haematococcus pluvialis Microalgae
Giuseppe Di Sanzo,
Sanjeet Mehariya,
Maria Martino,
Vincenzo Larocca,
Patrizia Casella,
Simeone Chianese,
Dino Musmarra,
Roberto Balducchi,
Antonio Molino
Affiliations
Giuseppe Di Sanzo
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability, CR Trisaia SS Jonica 106, km 419+500, 75026 Rotondella, Italy
Sanjeet Mehariya
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability, CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici, Italy
Maria Martino
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability, CR Trisaia SS Jonica 106, km 419+500, 75026 Rotondella, Italy
Vincenzo Larocca
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability, CR Trisaia SS Jonica 106, km 419+500, 75026 Rotondella, Italy
Patrizia Casella
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability, CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici, Italy
Simeone Chianese
Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi della Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, Real Casa dell’Annunziata, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa, Italy
Dino Musmarra
Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi della Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, Real Casa dell’Annunziata, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa, Italy
Roberto Balducchi
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability, CR Trisaia SS Jonica 106, km 419+500, 75026 Rotondella, Italy
Antonio Molino
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability, CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici, Italy
Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae in the red phase can produce significant amounts of astaxanthin, lutein, and fatty acids (FAs), which are valuable antioxidants in nutraceutics and cosmetics. Extraction of astaxanthin, lutein, and FAs from disrupted biomass of the H. pluvialis red phase using carbon dioxide (CO2) in supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) conditions was investigated using a bench-scale reactor in a semi-batch configuration. In particular, the effect of extraction time (20, 40, 60, 80, and 120 min), CO2 flow rate (3.62 and 14.48 g/min) temperature (50, 65, and 80 °C), and pressure (100, 400, and 550 bar.) was explored. The results show the maximum recovery of astaxanthin and lutein achieved were 98.6% and 52.3%, respectively, at 50 °C and 550 bars, while the maximum recovery of FAs attained was 93.2% at 65 °C and 550 bars.
