EPA and DHA in microalgae: Health benefits, biosynthesis, and metabolic engineering advances

Abstract

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are ω‐3 very long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC‐PUFAs) that offer a wide range of human health benefits impacting cardiovascular, anti‐inflammatory, and neurological health. It is widely known that humans inefficiently synthesize these compounds and as such rely on exogenous dietary sources, such as marine fish oils. Unfortunately, the production of marine fish oils is an unsustainable process and has suffered a dramatic fall in recent years due to overfishing and climate change, as the demand for EPA and DHA continues to rise. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop alternative, sustainable sources for consumable EPA and DHA. Metabolic engineering of marine microalgae to improve their EPA and DHA productivity is regarded as a promising option that has received increasing commercial attention in recent years. In this mini‐review, we describe several notable health benefits of EPA and DHA, summarize the natural sources and biosynthesis of VLC‐PUFAS, as well as the recent advances in metabolic engineering of EPA and DHA production in representative microalgal and protist species, including Schizochytrium sp., Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and Nannochloropsis oceanica.

Designing healthier and more sustainable ultraprocessed foods

“…Moreover, certain kinds of fats have been linked to adverse health effects, especially trans and saturated fats (Schwingshackl et al, 2021), although the adverse health effects of saturated fats are now being disputed by some nutrition scientists (Astrup et al, 2020(Astrup et al, , 2021. The nutritional profile of UPFs could be enhanced by fortifying them with those fats that have been linked to beneficial health effects, such as unsaturated fatty acids, especially long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, like eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (Jesionowska et al, 2023;Swanson et al, 2012). Nevertheless, replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats is not always simple.…”

Extraction and Separation of Natural Products from Microalgae and Other Natural Sources Using Liquefied Dimethyl Ether, a Green Solvent: A Review

“…Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (ω-3 C20:5) and DHA (ω-3 C22:6) obtained from microalgae are essential for humans due to their beneficial effects on health, including neurodevelopment and the prevention of chronic diseases [155]. Certain microalgal species (Haptophyta, Bacillariophyta, Ochrophyta, and Rhodophyta) have been reported to contain up to 30-50% eicosapentaenoic acid [156][157][158][159] and 22-58% DHA of the total fatty acids [160].…”

Microbial Fermentation of the Water-Soluble Fraction of Brewers’ Spent Grain for the Production of High-Value Fatty Acids

“…Since patent literature [33] indicates the possibility that strains belonging to Aspergillum, Fusarium, Cladosporium and Trichoderma genera could be able to produce lipids with a high PUFA content, the screening was extended to a large number of these species (entry [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. However, Trichoderma viride (DSM 63065), Chaetomium globosum (DSM 1962), Aspergillus niger (CBS 626.66), Aspergillus kanagawaensis (CBS 424.68), Cladosporium cucumerinum (CBS 158.51), Sodiomyces alcalophilus (CBS 114.92), Nigrospora oryzae (MUT 5844), Fusarium culmorum (MUT 5855) and Beauveria bassiana (AM278) did not afford high-value PUFAs, as only LA was generated by the fungal metabolism.…”

“…The natural occurrence of the other two C 18 -linolenic acid isomers, namely α-linolenic (ALA, 4) and γ-linolenic (GLA, 5) acids, is restricted to a limited number of seed oils such as linseed oil and borage seed oil, respectively. Finally, the most health-beneficial (and most sought-after) PUFAs are arachidonic acid (ARA, 6) [19], cis-5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 7) and cis-4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 8) [20]. These FAs are usually supplied to the human body from dietary animal sources, where they occur in very minute amounts.…”