Scale-up preparation of phycoerythrin from Porphyra haitanensis

Abstract:

We developed large-scale preparation of phycoerythrin from Porphyra haitanensis, a main economic red algae in China. Firstly, P. haitanensis thallus was broken by using “swelling and smash” method. Then times of grads ammonium sulfate precipitation applied to the crude extraction were compared. Desalted solution was further purified with one-step chromatography using hydroxyapatite and properties on spectrum and molecular weight were identified finally. The results indicated that after four times of ammonium sulfate precipitation (15%, 50%, 10% and 40%), the absorption spectrum purity of P. haitanensis achieved 0.9 (A564/A280), and 507.82 mg phycoerythrin (A564/A280>3.2) was obtained from 7 kg fresh algae after further hydroxyapatite chromatography. This research provides a potential way for preparation of phycoerythrin in large sclae.