Tang, Doris Ying Ying
(2023)
Evaluation of mixed microalgae species biorefinery of Desmodesmus sp. And Scenedesmus sp. For bioproducts synthesis.
PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Abstract
Microalgae is known to produce numerous bioactive compounds for instance proteins, fatty acid, polysaccharides, enzymes, sterols, and antioxidants. Due to their valuable biochemical composition, microalgae are regarded as a very intriguing source to produce novel food products and can be utilised to improve the nutritional content of traditional foods. Additionally, microalgae are used as animal feed and additives in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical as well as nutraceutical industries. As compared to other terrestrial plants and other microorganisms, microalgae possess few advantages: (1) rapid growth rate; (2) able to grow in non-arable land and harsh cultivation conditions; (3) low nutritional requirements; (4) high productivity; and (5) reduce emission of carbon dioxide. Despite the large number of microalgae species found in nature, only a few species are identified and commercialized such as Chlorella sp., Spirulina sp. Haematococcus pluvialis, Nannochloropsis sp. and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which is one of the major obstacles preventing the full utilisation of microalgae-based technology.
This thesis provides information on the overall composition of mixed microalgae species, Desmodesmus sp. and Scenedesmus sp., for instance protein, carbohydrate, lipid, antioxidants, and pigment. This thesis firstly introduces the application of triphasic partitioning (TPP) in the extraction and partitioning of the biomolecules from the microalgae. The latest advancement of technology has evolved from a liquid biphasic flotation (LBF) to TPP. T-butanol and ammonium sulphate are used in TPP to precipitate desired biomolecules from the aqueous solutions with the formation of three layer. TPP is a simple, time- and cost- efficient, as well as scalable process that does not require toxic organic solvents. Lipase is abundantly produced by microbes, bacteria, fungi, yeast, mammals, and plants. Lipase is widely used in the oleochemical, detergent, dairy, leather, cosmetics, paper, cosmetics, and nutraceutical industries. Therefore, this thesis also discusses the possibility of identifying and extracting enzyme lipase from the microalgae using LBF. Several parameters (volume and concentration of solvents, weight of biomass, flotation kinetics and solvent types, etc.) have been investigated to optimize the lipase extraction from LBF.
Chlorophyll is the main pigment present in the microalgae. Thus, this work proposes the digital imaging approach to determine the chlorophyll concentration in the microalgae rapidly because the chlorophyll content has a significant impact on microalgae physiological health status as well as identifies the chlorophyll concentration in the production of by-products. Lastly, microalgae oil can be used as the feedstock for biodiesel as well as nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and health-care products. The challenge in the lipid extraction is the co-extraction of chlorophyll into the oil, which can have serious consequences for downstream processing. Therefore, the removal of the chlorophyll from the microalgae using activated clay or sodium chlorite in the pre-treatment procedure are examined. The research achievements in these works and future opportunities are highlighted in the last chapter of the thesis.
| Item Type: |
Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
(PhD)
|
| Supervisors: |
Show, Pau Loke
Selvarajoo, Anurita
Chew, Kit Wayne |
| Keywords: |
microalgae; chlorophyll; liquid biphasic flotation; dechlorophyllization; biorefinery |
| Subjects: |
T Technology > TP Chemical technology |
| Faculties/Schools: |
University of Nottingham, Malaysia > Faculty of Science and Engineering — Engineering > Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering |
| Item ID: |
73993 |
| Depositing User: |
Tang, Doris
|
| Date Deposited: |
22 Jul 2023 04:40 |
| Last Modified: |
22 Jul 2023 04:40 |
| URI: |
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/73993 |
Actions (Archive Staff Only)
 |
Edit View |
Tools
Tools
