Disruption of thin- and thick-wall microalgae using high pressure gases: Effects of gas species, pressure and treatment duration on the extraction of proteins and carotenoids.

Industrial scale microalgal cell disruption requires low cost, high efficiency and structural conservation of biomolecules for biorefinery. Many cultivated microalgae have thick walls and these walls are barriers for efficient cell disruption. Until recently, despite the high biodiversity of microalgae, little attention has been paid to thin-wall microalgal species in the natural environment for the production and recovery of valuable biomolecules.