Optimization of Phycobiliprotein Solubilization from a Thermotolerant Oscillatoria sp

The present study evaluated the effect of multiple variables (drying time, drying temperature, biomass/solvent ratio, glass beads/biomass ratio, extraction time, and extraction speed) in the solubilization of three different phycobiliproteins (C-PC, APC, and PE) from a thermotolerant Oscillatoria sp. The strain was grown in BG11 media (28 degrees C, light: dark cycle of 12:12 h at 100 mu mol.m(-2).s(-1), 20 days) and the experiments were conducted according to a two-level randomized factorial design with six center points (38 runs). Results show that biomass/solvent ratio, glass beads/biomass ratio, and extraction time, are the most significant variables in the extraction of all three proteins, whereas the glass beads/biomass ratio and extraction time significantly affect their purity. The optimized conditions allow a statistical increase in the concentration of C-PC, APC, and PE extracted from the biomass; however, the purity was lower in comparison with the expected value. The latter occurs due to a larger biomass/solvent ratio and longer extraction times, which enhanced the solubility of other hydrophilic metabolites (proteins and carbohydrates, etc.).