An Easy and Non-Hazardous Extraction Method for Phycobiliproteins and Pigments from Anabaena cylindrica

Phycobiliproteins and pigments derived from cyanobacteria hold significant potential for diverse applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. The filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena cylindrica serves as a valuable resource for extracting these compounds. This study develops a simplified, safe, and cost-effective extraction method that eliminates toxic solvents and minimizes processing steps. This makes the method applicable for all users and allows the easy integration of the extraction into biorefinery concepts in which the biomass is to be used as a fertilizer, for example. Utilizing salts such as ammonium sulfate and calcium chloride (15 gL−1 each) enables the effective extraction of phycocyanin (PC) and allophycocyanin, achieving a PC concentration of 192.34 mggCDW−1 and 209.44 mggCDW−1, respectively. Ethanol was introduced as a less toxic alternative to methanol for pigment extraction, increasing chlorophyll a and carotenoid recovery by 21% and 37%, respectively.