Single step aqueous two-phase extraction for downstream processing of C-phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis

C-phycocyanin, a natural food colorant, is gaining importance worldwide due to its several medical and pharmaceutical applications. In the present study, aqueous two-phase extraction was shown to be an attractive alternative for the downstream processing of C-phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis. By employing differential partitioning, C-phycocyanin selectively partitioned to the polymer rich (top) phase in concentrated form and contaminant proteins to the salt rich (bottom) phase. This resulted in an increase in the product purity (without losing much of the yield) in a single step without the need of multiple processing steps. Effect of process parameters such as molecular weight, tie line length, phase volume ratio, concentration of phase components on the partitioning behavior of C-phycocyanin was studied. The results were explained based on relative free volume of the phase systems. C-phycocyanin with a purity of 4.32 and yield of about 79 % was obtained at the standardized conditions.