Pretreatment Tunes scCO2Extract Composition and Bioactivity in Three Microalgae

This study explores the impact of enzymatic (ENZ), microwave (MW), and ultrasound (US) pretreatments on supercritical CO2 (scCO2) extraction efficiency, chemical composition, and cytotoxic activity of Tetraselmis sp., Tetradesmus obliquus, and Chlorococcum sp. Pretreatments significantly enhanced extraction yields, with ENZ being most effective for Tetraselmis and Chlorococcum, and MW for T. obliquus. UPLC-HRMS profiling revealed species- and pretreatment-specific shifts: ENZ and US improved pigment recovery in Tetraselmis, while MW enriched carotenoids and chlorophyll derivatives. In Chlorococcum, MW boosted pigment diversity, whereas ENZ and US favored fatty acid derivatives in the extracts. Multivariate analysis confirmed significant compositional changes, particularly after ENZ and MW pretreatments. Tetraselmis extracts, especially those pretreated with MW, exhibited the strongest cytotoxic activity and highest selectivity indices against HeLa and MDA-MB-453 cancer cell lines. Correlation analysis identified compounds such as 2,3-dihydroxypropyl stearate, fucoxanthin, and (3β)-3-hydroxystigmast-5-en-7-one as strongly linked to cytotoxicity. Molecular docking further showed that abundant compounds in Tetraselmis extracts have high predicted affinities for cancer-related targets (e.g., BCL2, EGFR, PDK1). The results suggest that cytotoxic effects arise from both specific bioactive compounds and their synergistic interactions. These findings show that pretreatments can purposefully tune scCO2 extracts and provide a data-driven basis for designing more sustainable microalgal extraction workflows.

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Palavras-chave

Chlorococcum Cytotoxicity Pretreatments supercritical CO Tetradesmus Tetraselmis UHPLC General Chemistry Environmental Chemistry General Chemical Engineering Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10362/199948

DOI

10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c09964

Coleções

Home collection (FCT)

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