Microalgae Encapsulation Systems for Food, Pharmaceutical and Cosmetics Applications

Abstract

Microalgae are microorganisms with a singular biochemical composition, including several biologically active compounds with proven pharmacological activities, such as anticancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, among others. These properties make microalgae an interesting natural resource to be used as a functional ingredient, as well as in the prevention and treatment of diseases, or cosmetic formulations. Nevertheless, natural bioactives often possess inherent chemical instability and/or poor solubility, which are usually associated with low bioavailability. As such, their industrial potential as a health-promoting substance might be severely compromised. In this context, encapsulation systems are considered as a promising and emerging strategy to overcome these shortcomings due to the presence of a surrounding protective layer. Diverse systems have already been reported in the literature for natural bioactives, where some of them have been successfully applied to microalgae compounds. Therefore, this review focuses on exploring encapsulation systems for microalgae biomass, their extracts, or purified bioactives for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic purposes. Moreover, this work also covers the most common encapsulation techniques and types of coating materials used, along with the main findings regarding the beneficial effects of these systems.

Influence of Carbohydrate Additives on the Growth Rate of Microalgae Biomass with an Increased Carbohydrate Content

“…Microalgae are considered to be the most efficient organisms in converting solar energy. Additionally, microalgae do not require cultivated land, so they do not compete with food crops on arable land [ 2 , 3 ].…”

Unlocking the Health Potential of Microalgae as Sustainable Sources of Bioactive Compounds

“…Microalgae bioactives can have applications in several areas, but, in some cases, without proper protection during processing and storage, as well as, without suitable biopharmaceutical properties, the efficacy of their functionality may be absolutely compromised. For this reason, microalgae encapsulation is another intensively investigated field [ 251 ]. Many of the systems developed in this regard have proven their effectiveness in terms of stability and bioavailability improvement, suggesting they could also be applied for pharmaceutical or cosmetic purposes after in vitro and in vivo biological activity determination.…”

Fungi and Algae as Sources of Medicinal and Other Biologically Active Compounds: A Review

“…Algae biomass is a renewable source of many valuable active substances that have a wide range of applications in many industries, such as food, chemical, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and medicine [ 59 , 60 ].…”

“…Algae, due to its nutritional value, are presented as “functional foods” or “nutraceuticals” and described as “foods” that contain bioactive compounds, or phytochemicals that may benefit health beyond the role of basic nutrition (e.g., anti-inflammatories, disease prevention). Protein content differs widely across groups of algae and various commercial species of the unicellular green alga Chlorella contain up to 70% dry weight protein [ 59 , 60 ]. Among the marine algae, red and green algae such as Porphyra spp.…”