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Sargassum biorefineries: potential opportunities towards shifting from wastes to products

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Abstract

Sargassum tides on the coasts of the Mexican Caribbean have become an ecological and socioeconomic problem that requires a comprehensive solution. In this study, compositional analyses of Sargassum consortium (SC) showed 24.61% of carbohydrates, which could be used in alginate, fucoidan, and biofuel production. Also, 3.14 mg of p-Coumaric acid/g of SC was identified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This compound is a precursor to the monolignols involved in the synthesis of lignin. Moreover, gallic and vanillic acid were found in concentrations of 2.90 and 3.37 mg of compound/g of SC. HPLC and infrared spectra analysis confirmed the presence of lignin in the SC. In order to propose potential biorefinery applications, an alginate extraction process was developed and evaluated; results indicated that alginate has lower metal content than the original biomass. A reduction in six metals was achieved, including arsenic, to below the detection limit, and the decrease of 95.4% of zinc and 75.3% of aluminum. Furthermore, the characterization of the solid waste from the alginate extraction showed an increased in glucose, xylose, and fucose proportion, when compared with the initial biomass. In addition, carbon–nitrogen maintained an optimal ratio of 20.35 to be used for biofuel production and value-added compounds, allowing the development of a biorefinery system involving zero waste from SC, which would help to reduce negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Jose Martin Baas-López, M.Sc. for technical assistance.

Funding

This research was financed by the Sectorial Fund for Research and Development in Naval Sciences of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT), and the Navy Minister (SEMAR) as project No. 305292 and CONACYT Infrastructure Project No. 253986, and through the master’s scholarship number 753155.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Renewable Energy Unit, Yucatan Center for Scientific Research, Sierra Papacal, Mérida, Yucatán, C.P. 97302, México

    Karla J. Azcorra-May, Edgar Olguin-Maciel, Jorge Domínguez-Maldonado, Tanit Toledano-Thompson, Liliana Alzate-Gaviria & Raúl Tapia-Tussell

  2. Water Research Unit, Yucatan Center for Scientific Research (CICY), Calle 8 Número 39 Mza 29 S.M. 64 Lote 1 Colonia Centro, CP 77500, Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico

    Rosa Maria Leal-Bautista

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  1. Karla J. Azcorra-May
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Azcorra-May, K.J., Olguin-Maciel, E., Domínguez-Maldonado, J. et al. Sargassum biorefineries: potential opportunities towards shifting from wastes to products. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 14, 1837–1845 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02407-2

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