Separation of phycocyanin from Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) by application of ceramic microfiltration membranes

Abstract

Phycocyanin is a phycobiliprotein that has various pharmacological properties. The nature of phycocyanin is blue, non-toxic, odorless, and slightly sweet when dissolved in water. Considering the importance and uses of phycocyanin, including oral, medicinal, and cosmetic, the aim of this research is finding a new way to extract optimal phycocyanin. In this regard, four new and economical microfiltration membranes: kaolin–zeolite (K–Z), kaolin–zeolite–fly ash (K–Z–F), kaolin–alumina (K–A), and kaolin–alumina–fly ash (K–A–F), were made by extrusion method. Some physical characteristics of the fabricated membranes were investigated. The highest porosity related to K–A–F, and the average size of the pores in the membranes was between 0.8 and 1.537 μm. SEM analysis was also performed to prove the uniformity of the membrane structure. After the cell breaking of Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) in water through freeze-thawing and centrifugation, the solution is purified by microfiltration. Finally, the performance of the membranes was compared with each other. K–A–F membrane had the best performance in phycocyanin purification (purity 0.91).