The effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) and ultrasoud (US) technologies on the extraction of phycopiliproteins from Arthrospira platensis

Among innovative methods of cell disruption, pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment is widely used for disintegration of cells and extraction of intracellular components. The aim of our work was to study the effect of PEF intensity on the extraction of bioactifs component such as Phycobiliproteins from cyanobacterium microalgae Arthrospira platensis, native from the extreme south of Algeria country (Tamanrasset). Ultrasound (US) was also used for cell disintegration to compare with PEF. The algae was cultivated under controlled conditions in Zarrouk medium (ZM). The Algae was harvested and suspended in phosphate buffer (pH=7) then treated by PEF or US. The Algae was continuously treated by PEF at 38 kV/cm pulse intensity. The pulse duration and frequency were 232 μs and 158 Hz, respectively. The treatment chamber was co-field having treatment volume and gap between electrodes of 0.05 cm³ and 0.1 cm, respectively. The total treatment time was 0.03 s. Regarding the US treatment, the microalgae was subjected to 35 kHz frequency for a maximum of 90 min. The temperature treatment was maintained at 35°C using a cooling system. For both methods used in this study the yield extractions of phycobiliproteins were the same (0.15 mg/mL) with the exception that the purity of the product was higher in PEF than in the US treatment (0.5 compare to 0.44). The PEF and US treatment induced cell disintegration resulted in the release of intracellular matter into suspension. However, PEF was more efficient than US since even it gives the same amount of extractions but with higher purity at lower treatment time (0.03 s compared to 5400 s).