Identifying Key Environmental Indicators in the Assessment of the Proof-of-Concept in Pigment Production from the Marine Cyanobacterium Cyanobium sp.

Abstract

Cyanobacteria have long attracted market interest as a source of natural compounds such as pigments with proven bioactivity (carotenoid and phycobiliproteins). The cultivation and extraction processes for such compounds have been developed at different levels, from laboratory trials to photobioreactors on a demonstration scale. Based on this experience, it is possible to propose how the different stages of the process can be improved based on environmental performance indicators. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology allows to identify the hotspots that represent the greatest environmental impacts and to propose strategies to focus on those stages that can be improved. The general environmental indicators have been identified and the results showed that cyanobacteria cultivation has the greatest influence on environmental impact for all scales considered (from 20 L to 100 m3), which is attributed to the energy requirements. The main changes proposed to reduce the impact should focus on the stages of reactor cleaning, culture medium sterilisation and biomass drying. The implementation of these improvement alternatives can reduce the impact of the production and extraction processes by 85%. This work demonstrates how technological development must go hand in hand with impact assessment to make the best decisions in the overall process.

Cyanobacteria-Based Bioprocess for Cosmetic Products—Cyanobium sp. as a Novel Source of Bioactive Pigments

“…Another way of valorising this strain could be to find alternative metabolites and new applications, as is the case of pigments. The production and extraction processes of pigments with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties have been investigated in the past years by Pagels et al [42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49], also including the submission of a patent for cosmetic ingredients (Portuguese Provisional Patent Application no. 117951) and a scale-up proposal based on environmental evaluation.…”

“…The goal of an LCA evaluation and scale-up modelling for Cyanobium sp. [49] was to identify environmental hotspots in pigment production from Cyanobium sp. and to provide specific information in decision-making for sustainable scale-up from 20 L to 100 m 3 .…”

“…The proposed bioprocess is based on the gathering of all optimization strategies proposed by Pagels et al [42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] and discussed above for Cyanobium sp., with the aim to maximise biomass utilisation and to reduce waste (Figure 3). recommended, although is the one with the highest environmental load, as it is the only method with available results.…”