Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of lycopene from mated cultures of Blakeslea trispora NRRL 2895 and 2896

• Published in: Journal of food engineering 2008-12, Vol.89 (3), p.349-354
• Main Authors: Choudhari, Sheetal M., Singhal, Rekha S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetone; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Blakeslea trispora; Carbon dioxide; Choanephora; Culture; Entrainment; Extraction; Food engineering; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Lycopene; Optimization; Recovery; Solvent extraction; starter cultures; Supercritical carbon dioxide; supercritical fluid extraction; tomatoes
• ISSN: 0260-8774; 1873-5770
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2008.05.016

This work describes an innovative process for the extraction of lycopene from mated cultures of Blakeslea trispora using supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SCE) containing acetone as an entrainer. The results obtained are compared to conventional solvent extraction. Incorporation of entrainer improved the recovery of lycopene from 73% to 85% by SCE. Box–Behnken design was used to optimize the operating conditions for maximum extraction of lycopene from the biomass. The parameters optimized were temperature (45–65 °C), pressure (300–400 bar), and extraction time (1.0–2.0 h) at a fixed flow rate of 1 ml/min of carbon dioxide and entrainer at 1 ml/g biomass. The optimum conditions were found to be 1.1 h extraction at 52 °C and 349 bar, resulting in a 92% recovery of lycopene. The use of supercritical fluid extraction along with an entrainer is therefore recommended as a better option for enhancing the recovery of lycopene from B. trispora.