Extraction of R-Phycoerythrin from marine macro-algae, Gelidium pusillum, employing consortia of enzymes

Extraction of phycobiliproteins (R-phycoerythrin, R-PE) from macroalgae is difficult due to the presence of complex matrix of polysaccharides (agar, cellulose etc.) present in the cell wall which offers major hindrance for cell disruption. The present study is focused on the identification of suitable process conditions for the extraction of R-phycoerythrin (R-PE) from marine macroalgae, Gelidium pusillum (Stackhouse) Le Jolis., by enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharide-complex present in the macroalgal cell wall. Identification of optimum process conditions like incubation duration (2,4,6 h), incubation temperature (25, 30, 35, 40 °C) and enzyme to biomass ratio (0,20,40,60, 80 U/g biomass, fw) was carried out for agarase, cellulase and xylanase. Different relative proportions of these enzymes in a mixture at different pH (5.8, 6.8, 7.8) values were employed at the most suitable set of conditions. When employed alone, cellulase resulted in a minimum improvement (6%), agarase (14%) and xylanase the maximum (16%) on R-PE yield. Presence of cellulase in consortia has resulted in maximum improvement in R-PE yield (26%) at 25 °C and pH 5.8. Consortia of enzymes were more effective in improving the yield of biomolecules over the individual enzymes due to efficient hydrolysis of complex cell wall structure of biomass of Gelidium pusillum macroalgae and can be employed for the extraction of biomolecules also from other macroalgae.