Bio colourant from algae with chemical solvent methanol using TLC method / Muhammad Zaim Haqimy Ramli

Algae are a chlorophyll bearing autotrophic thalloid plant body which mostly are aquatic plant. Moreover, the plant body of algae are unicellular to multicellular structure. To explain further, this study is about the pigments contained within the algae could be used as alternatives ways to replace synthetic colourant. We have identified, two types of algae which can be used in our research, which are macroalgae and microalgae. The colour pigments of the algae known for their vibrant colours, such as phycobiliproteins, chlorophylls, and carotenoids. The bio colourant was produced on a small scale, as to just see the colour pigments extraction using chemical solvent of methanol. The separation of the colour pigments from algae was performed by using the Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) method. We collected 2 sample with same amount of weight for each total, with each one of the samples using different method of colour pigment extraction process of the microalgae. There are homogenizer and boiling method used to extract the colour pigment from the algae. The chemical solvent chosen were methanol, acetone, petroleum ether, and diethyl ether for the used in separation process. The methanol was chosen to extract the pigment using the two methods. After the extraction, we conduct the TLC method inside the glass chamber with ratio of chemical solvent mixture for separation process of the colour pigments. By then, the colour length from separation were used to calculate each of the retention factor (Rf) value to observe which one of the methods of extraction yield a better outcome. Moreover, the result will be compared to the extraction of raw algae, which is macroalgae with the same chemical.