Recent developments in the commercial production of DHA and EPA rich oils from micro-algae

Abstract

The regular intake of marine omega 3's DHA and EPA has been scientifically established as providing a wide range of health benefits. This paper reviews recent developments in the commercial production of DHA and EPA rich oils from micro-algae. The selection of suitable micro-algae species is discussed. The complexities of producing algal oil rich in marine omega 3's is examined in terms of both upstream and downstream production.

Heterotrophic cultivation of microalgae: production of metabolites of commercial interest

“…Remarkably, at a commercial level, EPA oil production from algae has already been established for use in infant food and currently algal PUFAs are increasingly being used in health supplements and enriched food products . For example, the company DSM Nutritional Products has developed an algae‐based technology (owning several patents on the process) to produce the algal oil (DHA content of 40–45% w/w, no EPA content, presumably) obtained from Cryptecodinium cohnii for the infant formula DHASCO™ .…”

Microalgal Classification

“…Lastly, the ubiquitous marine cocolithophore Emiliana huxleyi (Prymnesiophyceae C ) plays an important role in earth's carbon cycle due to forming vast blooms. is as aquaculture feed (Guedes and Malcata, 2012); however, they are also considered for the production of EPA (Winwood, 2013) and biofuel (Passell et al, 2013). The main genus with commercial application is Nannochloropsis, which generally has a high fatty acid content, mainly in the form of triacylglycerides.…”

Exploitation of Microalgae Species for Nutraceutical Purposes: Cultivation Aspects

“…Crypthecodinium cohnii of Crypthecodiniaceae is one of the heterotrophic, marine dinoflagellate microalga that produces mostly DHA of its total lipid [11]. This microalga has successfully been used by DSM nutritional company to produce DHA-enriched oil for the infant formula market through their patented fermentation technology.…”

“…In general, the fermentation processes are mainly achieved in two stages: First the biomass is generated through excess of nutrients supplemented growth and then in the second stage the combined nitrogen source is removed so that the nitrogen-deprived cells use the stored energy to produce fatty acids. Dissolved oxygen concentration, pH, carbon and nitrogen ratio, and the salinity and temperature are the important factors to be adjusted for optimum fermentation of DHA-rich oils [11].…”

“…This is because microalgae are photoautotrophic similar to higher plants; they have a much higher growth rate compared to other land plants; can sustainably be cultivated in non-arable land; and they only need meagre amounts of growth nutrients, freshwater, brackish or marine water, and available sunlight or alternatively low energy consuming LED lights. Under specific growth conditions, certain microalgae biomass may contain macromolecule carbohydrates (up to 60%, [3,4]); lipids (up to 70%, [5,6]); proteins (up to 60%, [7]); and other high-value-added biomolecules (HVABs) such as astaxanthin in Haematococcus pluvialis (up to 7%, [8]); β-carotene in Dunaliella salina (up to 12%, [9]), EPA in Phaeodactylum tricornutum (39% of total fatty acids, [10]), DHA in heterotrophic microalga Crypthecodinium cohnii (45% of oil, [11]) and in photoautotrophic microalga Diacronema lutheri (19.2% of total fatty acids, [12]), phycocyanin in Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis (17.5%, [13]), etc. During the last decade, microalgae have been researched for commercially viable production of biofuels, for which, the cultivation, harvesting and biomass extraction technologies remained cost challenging.…”