Physical and chemical methodologies for extraction of carotenoids from different dried microalgae biomass

Introduction - Microalgae are a natural resource with great potential for the isolation of natural substances with health benefits to humans. Their unique nutritional profile, which varies considerably depending on the species, place and season of harvest, rises industrial interest for the elaboration of extracts rich in bioactive compounds [1, 2]. In addition, microalgae exhibit numerous advantages, such as high growth rates and biomass production, the possibility of process optimization and also commercial and sustainability advantages [3-4]. Methods - The microalgae biomass under study was supplied by A4F. The dried biomasses were submitted to different extraction methods in order to find out which process is the most efficient to obtain compounds of interest, and, also, to perceive which methodology can be easily scaled up to the industrial level. The extracts obtained by using each method underwent spectrophotometric and, afterwards, HPLC analysis to quantify their carotenoid profile. Objectives - In the present work, the total carotenoids was evaluated in different microalgae dried biomasses after extraction by different methods, physical and chemical, in order to select the most adequate methodology for extraction yield maximization