An agricultural expansion at sea enables crops that live without the need for arid land, fresh water or fertilization and allows for the production of biomass that can be utilized as renewable materials, chemicals and food. Preparations for large scale cultivation of the brown algae <i>Saccharina latissima</i> are underway at the Swedish west coast, the species being chosen for its wide range of valuable components and quick growth. The versatile biomass composition includes the viscous polyelectrolyte alginate, highly soluble laminarin and mannitol, and significant amounts of cellulose and proteins. To effectively handle this biomass in a brown algae based biorefinery, new fractionation pathways are devised.<br/>The use of a high chelation strength component that can operate at neutral pH in the extraction solution is demonstrated to be crucial in an extended extraction process with minor degradation of the alginate. The non-degrading extraction strategy is then applied in a direct fractionation of brown algal biomass in cyclic extraction procedures. The recovered alginate fractions are characterized with respect to uronic acid composition and molecular weight distribution. The accumulation of laminarin, mannitol and protein in the extraction solution is monitored as well as the algal cellulose and protein in the insoluble residue. Ion exchange techniques are utilized to regenerate the extraction solution in between extractions.<br/>

Full utilization of algal biomass by cyclic extraction

251st National Meeting (2016)

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