Industrial potential of carotenoid pigments from microalgae: Current trends and future prospects

Abstract

Microalgae are rich source of various bioactive molecules such as carotenoids, lipids, fatty acids, hydrocarbons, proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids, etc. and in recent Years carotenoids from algae gained commercial recognition in the global market for food and cosmeceutical applications. However, the production of carotenoids from algae is not yet fully cost effective to compete with synthetic ones. In this context the present review examines the technologies/methods in relation to mass production of algae, cell harvesting for extraction of carotenoids, optimizing extraction methods etc. Research studies from different microalgal species such as Spirulina platensis, Haematococcus pluvialis, Dunaliella salina, Chlorella sps., Nannochloropsis sps., Scenedesmus sps., Chlorococcum sps., Botryococcus braunii and Diatoms in relation to carotenoid content, chemical structure, extraction and processing of carotenoids are discussed. Further these carotenoid pigments, are useful in various health applications and their use in food, feed, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries was briefly touched upon. The commercial value of algal carotenoids has also been discussed in this review. Possible recommendations for future research studies are proposed.

Keywords:

• Microalgae
• carotenoids
• processing
• biological activities
• applications

Chemical compounds studied in this article:

• Neoxanthin (PubChem CID: 5281247)
• Violaxanthin (PubChem CID: 448438)
• Astaxanthin (PubChem CID:5281224)
• Lutein (PubChem CID: 5281243)
• Zeaxanthin (PubChem CID: 5280899)
• β-cryptoxanthin (PubChem CID: 5281235)
• α-carotene (PubChem CID: 6419725)
• β-carotene (PubChem CID: 5280489)
• Canthaxanthin (PubChem CID: 5281227)
• Fucoxanthin (PubChem CID: 5281239)

Acknowledgments

The fisrt author thank Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College, Zhuhai Key Laboratory of Agricultural Product Quality and Food Safety (R1053 and R201632), and Vignan's Foundation for Science, Technology and Research University for providing financial support for excecute this work. Authors acknowledge to reviewers and editors for providing very valuable comments and suggestions on the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Author's contribution

ARR wrote the manuscript, GD involved in literature collection and chemical structures; GAR, RS, BPRN, BL, and SYP have been involved in improving the manuscript, and revising it critically. Finally all authors are in approval of the article submission.

Additional information

Funding

Zhuhai Key Laboratory of Agricultural Product Quality and Food Safety ID: R1053,R201632.