Linking microalgal cell wall architecture to cavitation-assisted recovery of lipids, pigments and antioxidants.
Dimitrios Marinidis (Italy)1; Elena De Amicis (Italy)1; Matteo Dassatti (Italy)2; Valentina Innocenzi (Italy)2; Marina Prisciandaro (Italy)2; Maria Benedetta Mattei (Italy)1;
1 - Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy; 2 - Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics, University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy;
Keywords: Microalgae cell wall; Hydrodynamic cavitation; Biomass pretreatment;
Abstract Topics: Theme 12: Cell Walls in Crop Quality, Biomass Utilisation and Sustainability
Type of Presentation: Poster

Abstract text: Microalgal cell walls represent a major bottleneck for the efficient recovery of high-value intracellular compounds, due to their species-specific composition and often extreme recalcitrance. In this work, we explore acoustic and hydrodynamic cavitation as green, scalable strategies to relax and disrupt microalgal cell walls, thereby enhancing the extraction of lipids, pigments and antioxidant molecules. A panel of microalgal species with widely divergent cell wall architectures (e.g. cellulose- and hemicellulose-rich walls, chitin/chitosan-like or highly cross-linked protein–polysaccharide matrices) and different degrees of mechanical resistance will be used to systematically assess how cavitation performance depends on wall composition and structure. By combining controlled cavitation regimes with biochemical analysis of cell wall composition, we aim to optimize cavitation parameters that selectively weaken cell walls while preserving the functional quality of the target metabolites. Comparative extraction yields of lipids, key pigments and antioxidant fractions across species and treatment conditions will be used to build a matrix linking microalgal cell wall properties to cavitation-assisted biorefinery performance. These results will provide new insight into how mechanical stress produced by cavitation interfaces with microalgal cell wall organization and will inform the rational design of cavitation-based pretreatments for sustainable microalgal biomass valorization.