Green Approaches to Extract Astaxanthin from Shrimp Waste: Process Design and Economic Evaluation

摘要

Sunflower oil and its methyl ester have recently been shown as potential green solvents which could substitute traditional organic solvents. This study investigates the economic feasibility of using these green solvents to extract astaxanthin from shrimp processing waste. The feasibility of commercial use of the green solvents under plausible process conditions is compared to extraction with a mixture of hexane: isopropanol. Process flowsheets describing these processes were created using SuperPro Designer. Although the astaxanthin extraction yield was highest when using hexane: isopropanol, according to the economic analysis, the green solvents showed lower capital and operating costs. Extraction with methyl ester of sunflower oil was found to be the more efficient green solvent process investigated with respect to production rate and unit cost of concentrated astaxanthin (155 ppm).