Algae as Food in Europe: An Overview of Species Diversity and Their Application

Abstract

Algae have been consumed for millennia in several parts of the world as food, food supplements, and additives, due to their unique organoleptic properties and nutritional and health benefits. Algae are sustainable sources of proteins, minerals, and fiber, with well-balanced essential amino acids, pigments, and fatty acids, among other relevant metabolites for human nutrition. This review covers the historical consumption of algae in Europe, developments in the current European market, challenges when introducing new species to the market, bottlenecks in production technology, consumer acceptance, and legislation. The current algae species that are consumed and commercialized in Europe were investigated, according to their status under the European Union (EU) Novel Food legislation, along with the market perspectives in terms of the current research and development initiatives, while evaluating the interest and potential in the European market. The regular consumption of more than 150 algae species was identified, of which only 20% are approved under the EU Novel Food legislation, which demonstrates that the current legislation is not broad enough and requires an urgent update. Finally, the potential of the European algae market growth was indicated by the analysis of the trends in research, technological advances, and market initiatives to promote algae commercialization and consumption.

A comprehensive review on algal nutraceuticals as prospective therapeutic agent for different diseases

“…Production of microalgae accounts for 25,000 tonnes which has a current market value of 50 million Euros and is targeted to reach 70 million Euros by 2025 (Fernández et al 2021 ). Since there is a rapid and consistent increase in world population, by 2050 food production and alternative dietary source needed to be increased by 60%The algal nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical industry is estimated to reach a market value of 1131 million Euros by 2027 (Mendes et al 2022 ). Algae as meat substitute in the food industry raised its value to 223.65 million Euros.…”

Edible algae allergenicity – a short report

“…After screening study titles and abstracts, the reference lists of relevant articles were searched to identify additional studies to be incorporated. The literature search uncovered a wide range of uses for algal sources in food systems (Wells et al 2017;Ścieszka and Klewicka 2019;Francezon et al 2021;Mendes et al As such this review includes primary research in humans in which algal allergens were ingested or administered during allergenicity testing. Studies were excluded if they were not primary peer reviewed studies, not written in English, studies were based on animal or cell culture models, the research was not focused on algal food allergy, or were studies duplicated results.…”

Fungal Contamination in Microalgal Cultivation: Biological and Biotechnological Aspects of Fungi-Microalgae Interaction

“…For instance, microalgae can be used for bioremediation [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], or as biofertilizers and biostimulants or biopesticides [ 7 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Due to their high concentrations of proteins, vitamins, and fatty acids, microalgae have been also evaluated as possible nutrients for different animals including both aquatic and terrestrial species [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. Moreover, antioxidant molecules and pigments can have beneficial effects on animal and human wellness [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”