Partitioning Recovery of Natural Pigments from Spirulina platensis

In the last few decades, the recovery of high-added value compounds with high food potential using microalgae as feedstock has been one of the main challenges for both research and industry. This study provides a simple, affordable, and cost-saving approach for the selective recovery of C-phycocyanin (C-PC), chlorophyll a and carotenoids from Spirulina platensis biomass by using biocompatible and industrially approved solvents (such as CaCl2 and ethanol). The concentration and yield of each pigment in the liquid extract have been spectrophotometrically detected, whereas the decolorized protein-rich biomass has been analyzed by CIELab parameters. The most concentrated (566.4 μg/mL) and food-grade C-PC extract (purity index 0.7) was obtained by applying a biomass/solvent ratio (1:10) for the first round of extraction (20 min), followed by a second round at 1:5 using CaCl2 1.5% (w/v) aqueous solution. Additionally, the same trial enabled the production of the brightest decolorized protein-rich biomass (L* = 46.2), characterized by a yellow-orange tonality (h° values = 81.3°).