Microalgae, old sustainable food and fashion nutraceuticals

Abstract

Microalgae have been used for centuries to provide nourishment to humans and animals, only very recently they have become much more widely cultured and harvested at large industrial scale. This paper reviews the potential health benefits and nutrition provided by microalgae whose benefits are contributing to expand their market. We also point out several key challenges that remain to be addressed in this field.

Alkenones as a Promising Green Alternative for Waxes in Cosmetics and Personal Care Products

“…Alkenones, therefore, represent a potentially abundant and renewable resource available from common algae, with a history of large-scale production [9]. Isochrysis species have been noted for their high lipid content [10], and potential application in cosmetic and personal care products [11][12][13]. The high-melting lipids, being naturally sourced (i.e., green and non-GMO) and sustainable, may be of interest to the cosmetic and personal care industry.…”

Enhancement of Chlorophyll a Production from Marine Spirulina maxima by an Optimized Ultrasonic Extraction Process

“…The blue-green algae Spirulina has been consumed since ancient times as a perfect food of the earth and has been frequently studied for many purposes, including as a food supplement, a functional food medicine, for cosmetics, and for many other biomaterials [1][2][3][4][5]. However, for most applications, it is considered more economical to use dried Spirulina itself rather than extract the biologically active components, such as phycocyanin, xanthophyll, chlorophylls, etc.…”

“…Among the many bioactive substances that exist in Spirulina, the extracts of phycocyanin and xanthophyll are relatively well studied since they are unique components in Spirulina and are proven to have various useful biological functions including anticancer and anti-inflammation activities, as natural dyes, etc. [2][3][4]. However, the extraction of chlorophylls from Spirulina has not been studied much, even though Spirulina is also known to have very high amounts of chlorophylls, especially chlorophyll a, because there are many other resources with more natural chlorophylls [6][7][8][9][10].…”

“…Specifically, the need for natural chlorophyll a has been greatly increased because of its biological activities such as high antioxidant, anti-obesity, anti-cancer and anti-aging, etc. [1][2][3][4]. However, to obtain pure chlorophyll a from natural resources has not been easy since its purification steps are more complicated and also require special attention to avoid heat and light damage, etc.…”

The contribution of microbial biotechnology to economic growth and employment creation

“…There are a number of parameters that can be taken into consideration for assessing the innovation level of a particular sector, including the annual number of patent applications/research papers published/scientific meetings, the rate of creation of new dedicated university departments, rate of creation of start-ups, and by all these parameters, biotechnology is seen to be highly innovative. For a current snapshot of innovations in diverse sectors of microbial biotechnology, the reader is directed to the contributions published in this issue, particularly those by (Alvarez and Fernandez, 2017;Caselli, 2017;Cordero et al, 2017;D€ urre, 2017;Felgner et al, 2017;Garcia, 2017;Godoy et al, 2017;Gurry, 2017;Lee, 2017;Li and Gadd, 2017;de Lorenzo, 2017;Macaskie and Orozco, 2017;Narancic and O'Connor, 2017;Nealson, 2017;Ramos, 2017;Schmidt-Dannert, 2017;Sherry et al, 2017;Trivedi et al, 2017;Verstraete and Devrieze, 2017;Webster, 2017)see also SDG 8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small-and mediumsized enterprises, including through access to financial services (see e.g. United Nations, 2015a,b).…”