Investigation and Screening of Mixed Microalgae Species for Lipase Production and Recovery using Liquid Biphasic Flotation Approach

Background: Lipase is mainly extracted from animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. The difficulty in extracting lipase from these organisms has led to the discovery of sustainable sources producing lipase. This study is the first to document the existence of lipase in the microalgae species from Umeå. Methods: Lipase in microalgae was extracted using liquid biphasic flotation as the protein homogenate from the extracts was found to contain lipase activity. The lipase activity was evaluated using colorimetric method with p-nitrophenyl palmitate as the substrate. The types, volumes, and concentrations of solvents as well as flotation kinetics, and the biomass weight were optimized. The experiment was conducted at optimal temperature and pH 7. Significant Findings: The optimized conditions for maximum lipase production were 400 mg of biomass, 10 min flotation time with flotation rate of 100 cc/min as well as 99.8% ethanol and 300 g/L ammonium sulphate concentration with volume ratio of 1: 0.83. Lipase recovery yield of the optimal LBF system was 70.3% with the separation efficiency of 82.0% and purification factor of 7.45. The findings revealed that the microalgae can be an ideal candidate for producing lipase and LBF serves as the platform for the development of large-scale extraction system.