Pradip B. Dhamole

Extraction of p-coumaric acid from agricultural residues and separation using ‘sugaring out’

We investigated the extraction of para-coumaric acid (pCA) from different agriculture residues (corn stover, sugarcane bagasse, sorghum stalk, pearl millet stalk, green gram shell, groundnut shell, sesame shell) using sugarcane bagasse alkaline hydrolysis and separation of pCA using sugaring out - a new phase separation method. Primary screening of different feed stocks was by alkaline hydrolysis with 2M NaOH for 6 h at room temperature. Sugarcane baggase resulted into significant amount of pCA (1.1 g/L) and small amount of ferulic acid (FA) (0.23 g/L). The optimized alkaline hydrolysis conditions (2 M NaOH and 16 h) resulted into maximum pCA release of 2.0 g/L. The pCA was separated from alkaline hydrolysate using sugaring out, a two phase separation method that results in aqueous phase and the organic solvent (acetonitrile) phase. Sugaring-out separated more than 90% of the pCA from the alkaline hydrolysate. Results of HPLC using standard pCA and FA showed that the main component of the separated top (organic solvent) phase was pCA rather than FA.

CO2 fixation and lipid production by microalgal species

Microalgal species Nannochloropsis limnetica, Botryococcus braunii, and Stichococcus bacillaris were compared for their ability to grow, remove CO2, and accumulate lipids in their biomass under CO2-enriched atmosphere. Overall, N. limnetica outperformed the other two cultures and distinctly exhibited higher specific growth rate (0.999 d−1) and CO2 fixation rate (0.129 gL−1 d−1) with a high specific lipid yield (40% w/w). The volumetric CO2 fixation rate for all three species was validated with biomass productivity and mass transfer methods (P<0.005 and R2=0. 98). At 10% CO2, N. limnetica showed one-and-a-half times more carbon fixation efficiency over B. braunii, and S. bacillaris. On the other hand, total fatty acids of N. limnetica dispalyed an apparent increase in oleic acid. Whereas, under similar conditions, N. limnetica exhibited reduced eicosapentaenoic acid. These findings suggest that at high CO2 conditions, N. limnetica proved to be an efficient CO2 capture algal system and can be considered for biofuel applications.