Journal of Chemical Engineering & Process Technology
Open Access

Abstract

The Bioeconomy of Microalgal Carotenoid-Rich Oleoresins Produced in Agroindustrial Biorefineries

Gabriela Rigo Roso, Maria Isabel Queiroz, Nívia Maria Streit, Cristiano Ragagnin de Menezes, Leila Queiroz Zepka and Eduardo Jacob-Lopes

The techno-economic evaluation of the obtaining process of a natural mixed carotenoid-rich oleoresin from microalgae dried biomass is presented in this paper. The process is based on solvent extraction on industrial scale, and the oleoresin obtained is suspended in soybean oil at a concentration of 20%. The oleoresin is compound of a mix of trans and cis isomers of carotenoids, having as the major carotenoid the all-trans-β-carotene, in amounts close to 37%. The experimental data were used to estimate the costs of an industrial plant that has the potential to generate 569,016 tons of microalgal biomass per year, in which 107,902.5 kilograms per year are represented by total carotenoids. Based on the determination of the cost analysis, it was demonstrated that the natural mixed carotenoidrich oleoresin in soybean oil has a production cost estimated as USD 146.9 per kilogram.