Decolorizing of seaweed extract by electrocoagulation

Abstract Electrocoagulation (EC) is a technique commonly used in wastewater treatment to remove biological and chemical contaminants, but the process has the potential to be used in clarifying plant extracts for the isolation and identification of secondary metabolites. Seaweed extracts contain copi...

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Main Authors: Winifred Akoetey, Simon Caton, Edward Lai, Farah Hosseinian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-12-01
Series:Food Production, Processing and Nutrition
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s43014-024-00270-4
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author Winifred Akoetey
Simon Caton
Edward Lai
Farah Hosseinian
author_facet Winifred Akoetey
Simon Caton
Edward Lai
Farah Hosseinian
author_sort Winifred Akoetey
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Electrocoagulation (EC) is a technique commonly used in wastewater treatment to remove biological and chemical contaminants, but the process has the potential to be used in clarifying plant extracts for the isolation and identification of secondary metabolites. Seaweed extracts contain copious amounts of chlorophyll and other pigments that obscure the characterization of secondary metabolites such as phenolic acids and flavonoids. In place of conventional methods that utilize solvents, EC can potentially be applied to clarify and fractionate extracts. In this research, an EC duration of 30 min (22 V, 0.3–0.5A) with aluminum electrodes resulted in a significant decrease, about 76%, of chlorophyll and 70% of carotenoids from seaweed extract measured at 666 nm and 410 nm. The decrease in extract green and yellow color intensity also mirrored a decrease in total phenolic content (TPC) of the extract from 54 ± 1.55 mg GAE/g DW to 3.2 ± 0.01 mg GAE/g DW after 30 min of EC. However, the phenolic acid profile of the extract after electrocoagulation via HPLC-RP indicated the removal of an interference probably caused by polymeric compounds from the extract, thus leaving the simple phenolic acids in solution for detection. The major phenolic acids detected in seaweed crude extract were p-coumaric, o-coumaric, ferulic and syringic acid. Flavonoids detected included catechin, epicatechin, quercetin-3-glucoside and rutin. The results of this study show the potential of replacing conventional plant extract purification methods with a green method that requires no additional solvent. Graphical Abstract
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spelling doaj-art-3fe77ff0676948a48d59768762a4f58e2025-08-20T02:20:40ZengBMCFood Production, Processing and Nutrition2661-89742024-12-01611910.1186/s43014-024-00270-4Decolorizing of seaweed extract by electrocoagulationWinifred Akoetey0Simon Caton1Edward Lai2Farah Hosseinian3Food Science, Chemistry Department, Carleton UniversityFood Science, Chemistry Department, Carleton UniversityChemistry Department, Carleton UniversityFood Science, Chemistry Department, Carleton UniversityAbstract Electrocoagulation (EC) is a technique commonly used in wastewater treatment to remove biological and chemical contaminants, but the process has the potential to be used in clarifying plant extracts for the isolation and identification of secondary metabolites. Seaweed extracts contain copious amounts of chlorophyll and other pigments that obscure the characterization of secondary metabolites such as phenolic acids and flavonoids. In place of conventional methods that utilize solvents, EC can potentially be applied to clarify and fractionate extracts. In this research, an EC duration of 30 min (22 V, 0.3–0.5A) with aluminum electrodes resulted in a significant decrease, about 76%, of chlorophyll and 70% of carotenoids from seaweed extract measured at 666 nm and 410 nm. The decrease in extract green and yellow color intensity also mirrored a decrease in total phenolic content (TPC) of the extract from 54 ± 1.55 mg GAE/g DW to 3.2 ± 0.01 mg GAE/g DW after 30 min of EC. However, the phenolic acid profile of the extract after electrocoagulation via HPLC-RP indicated the removal of an interference probably caused by polymeric compounds from the extract, thus leaving the simple phenolic acids in solution for detection. The major phenolic acids detected in seaweed crude extract were p-coumaric, o-coumaric, ferulic and syringic acid. Flavonoids detected included catechin, epicatechin, quercetin-3-glucoside and rutin. The results of this study show the potential of replacing conventional plant extract purification methods with a green method that requires no additional solvent. Graphical Abstracthttps://doi.org/10.1186/s43014-024-00270-4
spellingShingle Winifred Akoetey
Simon Caton
Edward Lai
Farah Hosseinian
Decolorizing of seaweed extract by electrocoagulation
Food Production, Processing and Nutrition
title Decolorizing of seaweed extract by electrocoagulation
title_full Decolorizing of seaweed extract by electrocoagulation
title_fullStr Decolorizing of seaweed extract by electrocoagulation
title_full_unstemmed Decolorizing of seaweed extract by electrocoagulation
title_short Decolorizing of seaweed extract by electrocoagulation
title_sort decolorizing of seaweed extract by electrocoagulation
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s43014-024-00270-4
work_keys_str_mv AT winifredakoetey decolorizingofseaweedextractbyelectrocoagulation
AT simoncaton decolorizingofseaweedextractbyelectrocoagulation
AT edwardlai decolorizingofseaweedextractbyelectrocoagulation
AT farahhosseinian decolorizingofseaweedextractbyelectrocoagulation