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However, high production costs have limited the widespread use of algae biomass. This study aimed to develop a multi-product biorefinery for Nannochloropsis oceanica that generates multiple revenue streams from the biomass, thereby enhancing the economic viability of algal production. The effectiveness of cell wall disruption using high-pressure homogenization and enzymatic hydrolysis was evaluated. Enzymatic hydrolysis solubilized nearly half (48.2 \u00b1 1.5%) of the dry cell weight, compared to only 27.3 \u00b1 3.2% with high-pressure homogenization, resulting in more concentrated water-soluble fractions and significantly higher protein extraction yields. Lipid extracts obtained after enzymatic hydrolysis had higher lipid (72.0 \u00b1 5.3% w\/w) and eicosapentaenoic acid (28.1 \u00b1 6.9% w\/w) contents than those from high-pressure homogenization (38.8 \u00b1 6.1% w\/w lipids; 9.1 \u00b1 0.6% w\/w eicosapentaenoic acid), despite similar lipid extraction yields (around 30%). Increasing the ethanol volumetric ratio from 58% to 75% v\/v significantly improved lipid extraction yields (57.4 \u00b1 3.1%) in the enzymatic hydrolysis-based biorefinery, with even higher yields observed upon scaling up (70.1%). All fractions, including lipid extracts, exhibited a balanced essential amino acid profile that exceeded the WHO\/FAO\/UNU-recommended values. A preliminary economic analysis indicated that lipid production was more cost-effective when cells were permeabilized by enzymatic hydrolysis than by high-pressure homogenization.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/md24070245","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T08:04:31Z","timestamp":1784016271000},"page":"245","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Assessment of Cell Disruption Methods in an Integrated Multi-Product Biorefinery for Nannochloropsis oceanica: From Process Design to Economic Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Pedro","family":"Cunha","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"GreenCoLab\u2014Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Oceano Verde, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"},{"name":"Allmicroalgae-Natural Products, Rua 25 de Abril, 2445-413 Alcobaca, Portugal"},{"name":"Center of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4612-3797","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bernardo","family":"Carvalho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GreenCoLab\u2014Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Oceano Verde, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"},{"name":"Center of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mariam","family":"Kholany","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GreenCoLab\u2014Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Oceano Verde, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"},{"name":"Center of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hugo","family":"Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GreenCoLab\u2014Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Oceano Verde, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"},{"name":"Center of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3101-693X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Varela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GreenCoLab\u2014Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Oceano Verde, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"},{"name":"Center of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1007\/10_2016_64","article-title":"From Current Algae Products to Future Biorefinery Practices: A Review","volume":"Volume 166","author":"Wagemann","year":"2017","journal-title":"Biorefineries. 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