Preparation of highly purified C-phycoerythrin from marine cyanobacterium Pseudanabaena sp.

► C-phycoerythrin was isolated and purified from marine Pseudanabaena sp. using two step chromatographic methods. ► C-phycoerythrin was purified by gel filtration with Sephadex G-150, and then it was purified by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE cellulose. ► Purified phycoerythrin showed absorption maxima at 568 and 541 nm, and displayed a fluorescence maximum at 578 nm. ► Absorbance ratio A568/A280, a criterion for purity (purity ratio) achieved was 6.86. ► The yield of purified C-phycoerythrin obtained was 13.6 mg/g of the cell dry weight with 47% of yield.