Current trends and possibilities of typical microbial protein production approaches: a review

Abstract

Global population growth and demographic restructuring are driving the food and agriculture sectors to provide greater quantities and varieties of food, of which protein resources are particularly important. Traditional animal-source proteins are becoming increasingly difficult to meet the demand of the current consumer market, and the search for alternative protein sources is urgent. Microbial proteins are biomass obtained from nonpathogenic single-celled organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and microalgae. They contain large amounts of proteins and essential amino acids as well as a variety of other nutritive substances, which are considered to be promising sustainable alternatives to traditional proteins. In this review, typical approaches to microbial protein synthesis processes were highlighted and the characteristics and applications of different types of microbial proteins were described. Bacteria, fungi, and microalgae can be individually or co-cultured to obtain protein-rich biomass using starch-based raw materials, organic wastes, and one-carbon compounds as fermentation substrates. Microbial proteins have been gradually used in practical applications as foods, nutritional supplements, flavor modifiers, and animal feeds. However, further development and application of microbial proteins require more advanced biotechnological support, screening of good strains, and safety considerations. This review contributes to accelerating the practical application of microbial proteins as a promising alternative protein resource and provides a sustainable solution to the food crisis facing the world.

Keywords:

• Microbial protein
• synthesis process
• organic waste
• one-carbon compounds
• resource valorization
• application

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the key program of Hunan Provincial Department of science and technology [grant numbers 2020WK2020], Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department [grant number 21A0161], Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province of China [grant numbers 2022JJ50306]; Central South University of Forestry and Technology Introduced Talent Research Startup Fund [grant numbers 2021YJ034 and 2021YJ014], and Program for Science & Technology Innovation Platform/Talents of Hunan Province [grant numbers 2019TP1029].