A green one pot approach for extracting free fatty acids from microalgae
- PMID: 40341704
- PMCID: PMC12062437
- DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-00235-8
A green one pot approach for extracting free fatty acids from microalgae
Abstract
A green one pot approach for extracting free fatty acids (FFAs) from microalgae has been established by combining bead milling and anion resin adsorption. In which, microalgae were initially pretreated by 10 min of bead milling for cell disruption and release of FFAs. Strong base anion resin was added in situ and solid-solid extraction was conducted for another 30 min. After further solid-liquid extraction was carried out at 25 °C for 2 h, FFAs were eluted with ethanol and acetic acid. For example, commercially available Spirulina platensis powder was quantitatively analyzed to afford the extraction rates of 87%, 77%, and 76% for palmitic acid, linolenic acid, and linoleic acid, respectively. Further, 7.0 mg/g of the three major FFAs from 0.25 g of Spirulina platensis have been determined. To scale up, 1 g of Spirulina platensis was applied to afford 6.3 mg of the three major FFAs with 8 g resins. Moreover, the extraction rates of major FFAs were determined to be 68%-92% for Picochlorum sp. and 53%-63% for mixed microalgae, respectively. It is suggested that this protocol without utilization of toxic organic solvents will benefit operators who engage in extracting FFAs in microalgae and producing FFA derivative products from microalgae.
Keywords: Bead milling; Free fatty acids; Green process; Microalgae; Strong base anion resin.
© 2025. The Author(s).
Conflict of interest statement
Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Figures






Similar articles
-
Alternative Solvents for the Biorefinery of Spirulina: Impact of Pretreatment on Free Fatty Acids with High Added Value.Mar Drugs. 2022 Sep 25;20(10):600. doi: 10.3390/md20100600. Mar Drugs. 2022. PMID: 36286424 Free PMC article.
-
Chemical Characterization, Lipid Profile, and Volatile Compounds in Chlorella sp. and Spirulina platensis: A Promising Feedstock for Various Applications.Molecules. 2025 Mar 27;30(7):1499. doi: 10.3390/molecules30071499. Molecules. 2025. PMID: 40286127 Free PMC article.
-
Optimization Growth of Spirulina (Arthrospira) Platensis in Photobioreactor Under Varied Nitrogen Concentration for Maximized Biomass, Carotenoids and Lipid Contents.Recent Pat Food Nutr Agric. 2020;11(1):40-48. doi: 10.2174/2212798410666181227125229. Recent Pat Food Nutr Agric. 2020. PMID: 30588890
-
Advances in delivery methods of Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) for enhanced therapeutic outcomes.Bioengineered. 2022 Jun;13(6):14681-14718. doi: 10.1080/21655979.2022.2100863. Bioengineered. 2022. PMID: 35946342 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Potential application of microalga Spirulina platensis as a protein source.J Sci Food Agric. 2017 Feb;97(3):724-732. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.7987. Epub 2016 Sep 12. J Sci Food Agric. 2017. PMID: 27507218 Review.
References
-
- Wang, X. et al. Lipidomic analysis of microalgae and its application in microalgae cultivation and alternative liquid biofuel production. Biomass Convers. Biorefin. 10.1007/s13399-024-05510-8 (2024).
-
- Balduyck, L. et al. Inhibition of lipolytic reactions during wet storage of T-Isochrysis lutea biomass by heat treatment. Algae Res.38. 10.1016/j.algal.2018.101388 (2019).
-
- Balduyck, L. et al. Integrity of the microalgal cell plays a major role in the lipolytic stability during wet storage. Algae Res.25, 516–524. 10.1016/j.algal.2017.06.013 (2017).
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources