Bioactive compounds extracted from natural renewable sources have attracted increased interest from both industry and academia.

Besides the good performance, the downstream process based in thermo-responsive systems was shown to be efficient and of lower environmental impact.

BACKGROUND: Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is used extensively as a biomarker due to its unique spectral and fluorescence characteristics. GFP is usually obtained from recombinant strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) producing the protein intracellularly. However, the common methods of extraction are cumbersome leading to an increase in the downstream process costs and complexity, sometimes leading to a higher risk of biomolecule degradation. RESULTS: This work proposes a new method to extract recombinant intracellular GFP from E. coli BL21 by using aqueous solutions of surface-active compounds.CONCLUSION: By comparing the fluorescence intensity of the extracted GFP, it was concluded that some of these compounds, namely ionic liquids with an alkyl chain of 10 or more carbons (best solvent being tributyl-1-tetradecylphosphonium, [P 4,4,4,14 ]Cl) are more effective than an ultrasonic-assisted extraction, even at low concentrations, being able to extract the whole GFP content from the cells. Associated Content Supporting information. General information of the surface-active compounds structures used, as well as their CMCs, and experimental results on the cell viability after GFP release using the best surface-active compounds.

In this work, a process for the extraction and purification of carotenoids from the fruit Bactris gasipaes was developed. Ethanolic and aqueous solutions of ionic liquids (ILs) and surfactants were evaluated on the extraction of these pigments. Thus, we developed an optimized sustainable downstream process mediated by the best solvent with further isolation of the carotenoids and the recyclability of the IL used. The process was characterized not only in terms of efficiency but also regarding its environmental impact. The recyclability of the solvents as well as the high efficiency (maximum yield of extraction of carotenoids = 88.7 ± 0.9 μgcarotenoids·gdried biomass –1) and the low environmental impact of the integrated process developed in this work were demonstrated. In the end, in order to incorporate functional activity for an alternative food-packaging material, carotenoids were successfully applied on the preparation of chitosan-based films with excellent results regarding their mechanical parameters and antioxidant activity.

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) has excellent properties as a biosensor and biomarker; however, its widespread use is limited by its purification costs. Alternative low-cost purification techniques can overcome this issue. The aim of this work was to evaluate aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) composed of cholinium chloride ([Ch]Cl) and different polymers as effective platforms to recover GFP from cell lysate of recombinant Escherichia coli BL21. All systems completely extracted GFP from cell lysate (>99%) into the polymeric-or [Ch]Cl-rich phases. In general, [Ch]Clbased ABS allowed a good purification capacity (GFP 80− 100% pure), with the best results (approximately 100% pure GFP) achieved with a polypropylene glycol (PPG)-400/[Ch]Cl ABS in a single-step extraction or in a two-step extraction (backextraction) by the integration of a polyethylene glycol (PEG)/sodium polyacrylate+[Ch]Cl ABS with a following stage using a PEG/[Ch]Cl-based ABS.Additionally, to demonstrate the potential of the PPG-400/[Ch]Cl ABS in downstream processing, solvent recycling and GFP polishing were carried out using ultrafiltration. Finally, the capacity of the PPG-400/[Ch]Cl ABS to extract other fluorescent proteins was also confirmed. The results clearly demonstrated that the PPG-400/[Ch]Cl ABS can be applied in downstream processing for the purification of proteins, not only enhancing purification yields but also providing simpler, quicker, cost-effective, and biocompatible processes.

Products extracted from natural resources are an increasing trend in several fields promoted by consumer demand. Allied to the importance attached to the concept of obtained. In this work, chlorophyll was extracted from batches of wild-harvested and farm-raised green macroalgae spp. from two different European locations, Portugal and France. The performance of different aqueous solutions of tensioactive compounds such as ionic liquids and common surfactants in the yield of extraction of chlorophyll was studied and the operational conditions of extraction were optimized. The effect of drying the biomass on the yield of extraction of chlorophyll was evaluated as well as the effect of both locations (and the specific conditions of each location in terms of nutrients, water temperature and light intensity) in chlorophyll production. After optimization of all operational conditions, a maximum yield of extraction of 5.96 mgchl.gdry algae -1 was obtained using 250 mM of tributyltetradecylphosphonium chloride ([P4,4,4,14]Cl). The use of this solvent has allowed the development of a cost-effective (conclusion obtainedafter the economic analysis) and efficient process capable of maintaining the stability of the final product for more than one month.

The ability of polymeric-based ABS to fractionate phenolic compounds from lignin depolymerisation was assessed.

Green fluorescent protein was used to fabricate planar LSCs in liquid and solid state, yielding competitive power conversion efficiency values stating the potential of naturally-based molecules in the development of sustainable LSCs.