Phyocyanin extraction from microalgae Spirulina platensis assisted by ultrasound irradiation: effect of time and temperature

Abstract

This research was aimed to extract phycocyanin from microalgae Spirulina platensis using an extraction assisted by ultrasound irradiation. The extraction was conducted by using variable of extraction time, temperature and ultrasound frequency, while ethanol was used as solvent. The results show that the yield of phycocyanin extract was 15.97% at constant frequency of 42 kHz and 11.24% at constant frequency of 28 kHz, while the soxhlet extraction method obtained yield at 11.13%. The ultrasound could reduce the extraction time from 4 hrs (conventional) to 20 minutes, while the optimum temperature of extraction was found at 55°C.

Keywords

• Spirulina platensis
• phycocyanin
• ultrasound
• extraction
• solvent
• anti-oxidant
• yield