Journal article
Ultrasound-Assisted Extracellular Polymeric Substance Removal from the Diatom Navicula sp.: A Route to Functional Polysaccharides and More Efficient Algal Biorefineries
Bhagya S Yatipanthalawa, Muthupandian Ashokkumar, Peter J Scales, Gregory JO Martin
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering | American Chemical Society | Published : 2022
Abstract
Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from microalgae have potential as functional polysaccharides for various food and industrial applications. This study investigates the use of ultrasonication to remove EPS from the diatom Navicula, first as a potentially useful byproduct of lipid and protein production and second in terms of the effect of EPS removal on downstream processing, including slurry rheology, dewatering, and lipid extraction. Ultrasound (20 kHz) was effective at removing EPS; however, cell rupture also resulted, particularly at high yields involving the removal of bound EPS. Increasing the power intensity/density did not affect the cell rupture at a given EPS yield but halve..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by Australian Research Council (ARC)
Funding Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the Australian Research Council (ARC) for providing funding through the Discovery Projects Grant Scheme (DP170103791) and the University of Melbourne for providing infrastructure support. The authors would like to thank Dr. Wu Li from the University of Melbourne School of Chemistry for helpful discussions and Dr. David Hill from the Department of Chemical Engineering for assistance with algae maintenance and cultivation. B.Y. is grateful to the University of Melbourne for providing a Melbourne Research Scholarship. The authors would also like to highlight their affiliation with the Future Food Hallmark Research Initiative of The University of Melbourne.