Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials
Open Access

Abstract

Different microalgae strains, both marine and freshwater, were cultivated and crude proteins were extracted from them. The effectiveness of lytic enzymatic pretreatment prior to extraction was evaluated and compared to conventional techniques, including ultrasonication and high pressure water extraction. Enzymatic pretreatment is preferable, because it is carried out at mild conditions and does not subject the proteins to high temperatures, as with ultrasonication, which could result in their denaturation. Enzymatic pretreatment, using lysozyme was found to be superior to other techniques, and the protein yields were found to be very close to that found using commercial lytic kit. The extracted crude proteins were identified and fractionated in an ion exchange resin. The extracted protein could be tested for their nutritional and pharmaceutical potential.

Biography

Sulaiman Al-Zuhair is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at UAE University. Prior to joining UAE University, in 2006, He worked as an Assistant Professor in the School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, at Nottingham University, Malaysia Campus. He obtained his PhD in Biochemical Engineering, from the University of Malaya in 2003, his MSc degree in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from University Putra Malaysia in 1998 and his BSc degree in Chemical Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology in 1996. He is the author of a book titled, "Supercritical fluids technology in lipase catalyzed processes". In addition, he published two US Patents, 53 peer-reviewed journal papers, two book chapters, two papers in educational journals and 31 papers in conference proceedings. Majority of his research, which is funded by various funding agencies, is on the uses of enzymes in various industrial applications, specifically in biofuels production. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of several international journals.

Email: s.alzuhair@uaeu.ac.ae