Microalgae are a promising source for proteins, lipids and carbohydrates for the cosmetic, nutraceutical, chemical, food/feed and biofuel industry. Biorefinery comprises the downstream processing of all products produced by microal-gae after cultivation. However severe conditions can affect the properties of some components. To preventthis, focus needs to be put on biorefinery techniques which are mild and effective. Among the cell disruption techniques, in the last 5 years PEF has been claimed to be promising for opening the cell and improving the extraction of intracellular compo-nents/organelles.
In this study the microalgaeChlorella vulgaris was treated in a lab-scale continuous flow PEF unit.Biomass concentration was set at 25 g/L and PEF treated at 20 kV/cm.The effects of inlet temperature (25-65潞C) and energy input (50-100 kJ/kg) on the release of proteins, sugars, antioxidants and pigments in the aqueous phase was investigated. With respect to the con-trol experiments carried out without electrical pulses, up to 2 g/L of carbohydrates and 1 g/L of protein were released in the aqueous phase when PEF was carried out at both the highest temperature and highest energy input
