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Mastocarpus stellatus as a source of R-phycoerythrin:
optimization of enzyme assisted extraction using response surface
methodology
Huu Phuoc Trang Nguyen
1,2
&Michèle Morançais
1
&Joël Fleurence
1
&Justine Dumay
1
Received: 5 July 2016 /Revised and accepted: 20 November 2016 /Published online: 3 December 2016
#Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016
Abstract This study reports the extraction of R-
phycoerythrin (R-PE) from the red seaweed,
Mastocarpus stellatus. Phosphate buffer 20 mM with
pH 7.1 showed better results for R-PE extraction fol-
lowing classical maceration. The grinding of freeze
dried material in liquid nitrogen aided greater extraction
of R-PE. The treatment of freeze-dried seaweed with
different cell-wall-degrading enzymes provided better re-
sultsforR-PEyieldthanmerelythawedalgae.The
enzyme xylanase was effective in degrading the cell
wall polysaccharides of M. stellatus. The response sur-
face methodology was employed in order to determine
the optimal hydrolysis conditions of R-PE extraction:
The optimum extraction conditions were as follows:
temperature (12 °C), pH (6.45), xylanase/dry seaweed
ratio (13.18 mg. g
−1
) for 6 h in the dark. Under these
optimal extraction conditions, the R-PE yield was
1.99 mg g
−1
dw which is about 1.8 times more than that
of obtained for dry algae without optimization and six
times more than that of obtained with wet algae treated
with xylanase.
Keywords Red seaweed .Rhodophyta .Phycobiliprotein .
Cell-wall-degrading enzyme .Optimization
Introduction
Phycobiliproteins are a family of light-harvesting pigment
protein complexes widely found in the chloroplasts of red
algae and cyanobacteria. They are divided into three classes
according to their absorption properties: phycoerythrin (PE;
λ
max
= 490–570 nm), phycocyanins (PC; λ
max
=610–
625 nm), and allophycocyanins (AP; λ
max
=650–660 nm).
Phycoerythrins (PEs) can be further divided into three main
classes, depending on their absorption spectrum: B-
phycoerythrin (B-PE; λ
max
=545–563 nm), R-phycoerythrin
(R-PE; λ
max
= 498–565 nm) and C-phycoerythrin (C-PE;
λ
max
= 565 nm) (Marsac, 2003; Kawsar et al. 2011).
R-phycoerythrin (R-PE) is the major phycobiliprotein in
marine red algae. It is made up of at least three different sub-
units and varies according to the algal species that produces it.
The subunit structure of the most common R-PE is (αβ)
6
γ.
The αsubunit has two phycoerythrobilins (PEBs), the βsub-
unit has two or three PEBs and one phycourobilin (PUB),
while the different gamma subunits are reported to have three
PEBs and two PUBs (γ1) or one or two PEBs and one PUB
(γ2) (Dumay et al. 2014). R-PE is currently widely used in the
production of food and cosmetics as a natural colorant
(Sudhakar et al. 2014). It is also commonly used as a moiety
in fluorescent energy transfer, fluorescent labeling in immu-
nology, and flow cytometry. Moreover, R-PE has some bio-
logical activities, such as, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antitumor,
immunosuppressive, and antihypertensive (Dumay et al.
2014).
Mastocarpus stellatus (Stackhouse) Guiry is a red marine
macroalga, belonging to the order Gigartinales, occurs on the
western and eastern coasts of the north to mid-Atlantic (Guiry
and West 1983). It is a rich source of carrageenan with 21.3%
and proteins with 7.7% on dry wt. basis (Mathieson and
Tveter 1976; Gómez-Ordóñez et al. 2010). The carbohydrate
*Justine Dumay
justine.dumay@univ-nantes.fr
1
LUNAM Université de Nantes, MMS, Nantes, 2 Rue de la
Houssinière, BP92208, 44322 Nantes cedex 03, France
2
Danang College of Technology, The University of Danang, 48 Cao
Thang, Hai Chau, Danang, Vietnam
J Appl Phycol (2017) 29:1563–1570
DOI 10.1007/s10811-016-1024-z
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