The Impact of Microalgae in Food Science and Technology

Abstract

Microalgae (including cyanobacteria) are promising organisms for sustainable products for use as feedstocks for food, feed, fine chemicals, and biofuels. They can synthesize a broad range of products with medium‐ to high‐value market price such as β‐1,3‐glucan polysaccharide, single‐cell‐protein, carotenoids and phycobilin pigments, and long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids that are commercialized in the food industry as dietary supplements and functional foods, in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries as cosmaceuticals and flavorants, and in the therapeutic field as nutraceutical compounds. These microorganisms are also exceptional producers of omega‐3 and omega‐6 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic, docosahexaenoic, and arachidonic acids that have been linked to several human health benefits. The aim of this paper is to review the main existing high‐value products that can be derived from microalgae with a particular focus on food science and technology applications. It also describes the gross and fine chemical composition of various algal species and details the nutritive importance of selected constituents. Finally, nutritional quality standards and legislative provisions to ensure food safety in the use of algal biomass are presented.

The Potential for ‘Next-Generation’, Microalgae-Based Feed Ingredients for Salmonid Aquaculture in Context of the Blue Revolution

“…As such, safety and efficacy evaluation of microalgaebased ingredients for salmonids feeds must be made a priority consideration in the future, both by producers and regulatory bodies, as reviewed by Shah et al [8]. As a starting point, several safety standards for microalgae consumption by humans was recently summarized by Matos [9]; including microbiological and insect contamination limits, and these standards could be reviewed and verified for their suitability for salmonid aquafeed applications.…”

Time course of nutritional and functional property changes in egg yolk from laying hens fed docosahexaenoic acid-rich microalgae

“…Heterotrophic or autotrophic microalgae ( MA ) as the primary natural producers of n-3 LC-PUFA are promising sources to replace fish oil for n-3 LC-PUFA enrichment in animal products ( Matos, 2017 ). A vital difference in fish oil and MA for supplementation of laying hen diets with n-3 LC-PUFA is that MA contain significant amounts of carotenoids ( Lemahieu et al., 2014 ).…”

Polyunsaturated fatty acids and nutritional quality of five freshwater fish species cultivated in the western region of Santa Catarina, Brazil

“…Globally, it provides about 6 percent of dietary protein in our diet in comparison to the animal protein intake (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2014). Besides being a protein source, fish is also a source of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs, both ω-3 and ω-6), such as linolenic acid (LA), γ-linolenic acid (GLA), α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are associated with a wide range of human health benefits (Rahmawaty et al, 2013;Sahari et al, 2013;Matos, 2017). The Dietary Guidelines for Americans -2010 (DGA) recommends that people consume 200 g of fish per week -especially marine-derived "oily" fish such as tuna, sardines, anchovies, salmon and mackerel -to provide an average consumption of 250 mg EPA and DHA per day (Institute of Medicine, 2015).…”