Pulsed electric fields for the extraction of lipids, pigments, and polyphenols from cultured microalgae

Microalgae are valuable resources because of their high content of health-promoting and high value-added compounds. Pulsed electric fields (PEFs) can be considered as a “mild” cell wall disruption method and show potential for being used for microalgal biorefinery applications to release, for example, polyphenols, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and pigments. PEFs are based on the electroporation phenomenon, which refers to the generation of pores in cell membranes under the effect of short- and high electric field pulses. The number and size of the generated pores can be theoretically controlled and, therefore, this technology could be used to selectively release different components. The extraction efficiency and energetic needs of PEFs depend on several factors including microalgal species, medium conductivity, microalgal concentration, and the pulse intensity. The aim of the current chapter is to discuss the potential utilization of PEFs as a pretreatment to improve the recoveries of pigments, oils, and polyphenols from microalgae.