Extraction, purification, characterization and bioactivity evaluation of high purity C-phycocyanin from Spirulina sp. NCIM 5143

The study demonstrates an end-to-end downstream process for extraction and purification of C-phycocyanin from Spirulina sp. NCIM 5143. High C-phycocyanin yield of 155.8 mg g-1 DCW, achieved in a single freeze thaw cycle and significantly shorter treatment time of 6.5 h, attributed to the optimized combinatorial process engineering strategy of: screening of suitable biomass condition (wet) and freezing with buffer at an optimized biomass to solvent ratio (1:100). High purity (2) of extracted crude pigment at food grade level made it a suitable starting material for purification. Due to this, the purification methodology involving ammonium sulphate precipitation and dialysis resulted in achieving analytical grade purity of C-PC in a lesser number of steps. Characterization of purified C-phycocyanin demonstrates the spectral properties and compares its structural similarities to commercial analytical grade C-phycocyanin. Bioactivity evaluation of purified C-phycocyanin shows its potential as anti-oxidant compound with an IC50 value of 123.62 mu g mL-1, and as anti-cancer compound with an IC50 value of 232.2 +/- 4.2 mu g. mL-1 with significant effects on cell migration and cell cycle arrest in G2 phase in HeLa cells.