Cyanotech’s new astaxanthin extraction system in operation

Cyanotech Corp. said Friday that its new astaxanthin extraction system has been installed and is now operating at the company’s production facility in Kailua-Kona.

The new custom-built, on-site extraction system will reduce production time and costs, as well as enable continued growth to meet astaxanthin demand, Brent Bailey, Cyanotech president and CEO, said in a prepared statement.

Astaxanthin is produced from microalgae cultivated and grown at Cyanotech’s facility within the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, the company said. Post harvest, the microalgae biomass historically has been shipped to the mainland and New Zealand where the astaxanthin has been extracted and readied for final product form before being shipped back to Hawaii.

This process added several weeks to production time and significant costs, the company said.

That will no longer be the case thanks to the new extraction system, which is housed in a 13,000-square-foot building that includes the extraction equipment with separate biomass handling and oil blending rooms, a drive-in freezer storage area, and a warehouse complex.

The system, which features a 14,700 PSI supercritical carbon dioxide extraction system, will allow Cyanotech to extract astaxanthin from Haematococcus biomass without the use of organic solvents in a shorter time compared to lower pressure systems and result in higher yields. The extraction system also has double the capacity of the company’s current production to allow for sales growth, Cyanotech said. Further, it can be expanded to handle four times the current production needs.

Cyanotech produces BioAstin Natural Astaxanthin and Hawaiian Spirulina Pacifica from microalgae grown at its 90-acre facility in Kona using patented and proprietary technology.

Visit www.cyanotech.com for more information.

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