Microencapsulation of C Phycocyanin by Microfludics
C phycocyanin a blue colored pigment from Spirulina platensis is selected as encapsulating biomaterial. This pigment is a phycobiliprotein is used as natural dye and has good therapeutic values. In the present study, C phycocyanin is encapsulated within calcium alginate gel matrix using microfluidic device. A microfluidic device comprising of two cross junction channels (100 um depth, 200 um width) is designed for encapsulation of the pigment. Micro fluidic devices have been used for continuous synthesis, control, and characterization of high quality droplets, in which the synthesis process can deliver mono dispersed size distribution. C phycocyanin pigment is mixed with sodium alginate solution dispersed through the microfluidic channel. Droplet formed in the microfluidic channel is further reacted with Calcium Chloride at the outlet of the channel. Monodispersed high throughput encapsulated C phycocyanin was produced with a microencapsulated droplet size of 95 100 mm. The size of the droplet was confirmed by scanning electron microscope. The drop formation mechanism is been studied and compared with the literature. The proposed microfluidic method of microencapsulation is capable of generating high quality gel matrix of uniform size.