Valuable products from biotechnology of microalgae

Abstract

The biotechnology of microalgae has gained considerable importance in recent decades. Applications range from simple biomass production for food and feed to valuable products for ecological applications. For most of these applications, the market is still developing and the biotechnological use of microalgae will extend into new areas. Considering the enormous biodiversity of microalgae and recent developments in genetic engineering, this group of organisms represents one of the most promising sources for new products and applications. With the development of sophisticated culture and screening techniques, microalgal biotechnology can already meet the high demands of both the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Microalgas, produtos e aplicações

“…Atualmente são encontradas citações relatando que podem existir entre 200.000 até alguns milhões de representantes deste grupo. Tal diversidade também se reflete na composição bioquímica e, desta forma, as microalgas são fonte de uma quantidade ilimitada de produtos (NORTON et al, 1996;PULZ & GROSS, 2004). Cabe ressaltar que algumas espécies sintetizam compostos que podem ser altamente tóxicos para outras espécies de organismos, inclusive para o homem.…”

“…Atualmente, são comercializadas como alimento natural ou suplemento alimentar e são encontradas formulações em pó, tabletes, cápsulas ou extratos. São também incorporadas em massas, petiscos, doces, bebidas etc., tanto como suplemento nutricional quanto como corantes naturais (BECKER, 2004;COLLA et al, 2004;PULZ & GROSS, 2004).…”

“…Segundo PULZ & GROSS (2004), o mercado de alimentos funcionais, utilizando microalgas em massas, pães, iogurtes e bebidas, apresenta rápido desenvolvimento em países como França, Estados Unidos, China e Tailândia. As principais microalgas cultivadas comercialmente são espécies dos gêneros Chlorella Beyerinck, (Chlorophyceae) e Arthrospira Stizenberger (Cyanophyceae) para a adição em alimentos naturais ("health food"), Dunaliella salina Teodoresco, (Chlorophyceae) para a obtenção de betacaroteno e Haematococcus pluvialis Flotow (Chlorophyceae) para a obtenção de astaxantina (BECKER, 2004).…”

Biochemical evolution in response to intensive harvesting in algae: Evolution of quality and quantity

“…The production of algae in intensive land‐based culture systems is a relatively new approach with significant commercial potential and interest, particularly with regard to algal biochemistry. Algae have been proposed as substrates for a broad range of biofuels (Brennan & Owende, 2010; Elliott, Biller, Ross, Schmidt, & Jones, 2015; Mata, Martins, & Caetano, 2010; Rowbotham, Dyer, Greenwell, & Theodorou, 2012), and as a source of new bioproducts and animal feed (Gosch, Magnusson, Paul, & Nys, 2012; Jiménez‐Escrig, Gómez‐Ordóñez, & Rupérez, 2012; Li, Wijesekara, Li, & Kim, 2011; Pulz & Gross, 2004). A key concern here is the productivity of biochemical components (lipid, protein, carbohydrate) per unit area of cultivation—whether this productivity evolves in response to intensive harvesting remains unclear.…”

Surveying techno-economic indicators of microalgae biofuel technologies

“…A set of articles can be found in the literature evidencing the technical feasibility of growing algae for biofuel production [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], in which the majority of them demonstrate the absence of the major drawbacks associated with current 1st generation biofuels. For example, the most common drawback pointed out of 1st generation biofuels as being the affect on food prices due to massive arable land use.…”