Optimisation Of Hydrolysis Conditions For Extraction Of R-Phycoerythrin From Gracilaria Gracilis By Enzyme Polysaccharidase And Response Surface Methodology

R-phycoerythrin has been widely used in food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and analytical reagent industries. The present work reports an effective procedure for the extraction of R-phycoerythrin from Gracilaria gracilis. Firstly, the algae pre-treatment is a significant stage, and the highly effective extraction of R-phycoerythrin from G. gracilis was carried out with freeze-dried seaweed and grinding with liquid nitrogen. Secondly, two different methods for the extraction of this pigment were tested: (i) by using the extraction solutions (tap water, pure water, phosphate buffer 100 mM with pH 6.5, and phosphate buffer 20 mM with pH 7.1); and (ii) by using polysaccharide-degrading enzymes (xylanase, cellulase, and beta-glucanase). Cellulase enhanced the extraction yield of R-phycoerythrin from G. gracilis (12.76 mg g(-1) dw). Finally, under the optimal hydrolysis conditions obtained with cellulase according to a response surface methodology study of temperature (32 degrees C), hydrolysis time (286 min), and enzyme/dry seaweed ratio (47 mg g(-1)), maximum yield of R-phycoerythrin (15.75 mg g(-1) dw) was obtained. (C) All Rights Reserved