Some promising microalgal species

for commercial applications: A

review
 Introduction
• Microalgae are typically single-cell photosynthetic autotrophic microscopic
organisms naturally found in fresh water and marine environment

• They produce complex compounds such as lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins,

using simple substances located in their surroundings

• Most microalgae are photosynthetic “plant like” microorganisms without the

distinct cell and organ types that land plants possess

• They use the carbon from air for energy production

• Some microalgae produce energy by using organic carbon

• Microalgae have over 300,000 species out of which around 30,000 are
documented
• They live in complex natural habitats and can adapt rapidly in extreme
conditions (e.g., variable salinity, temperature, nutrients, UV–irradiation)

• They can produce a great variety of fascinating secondary metabolites (biologically active)
with novel structures and biological activities that are generally not found in other organisms

• Microalgae produce some useful bio-products including

1. Carotenoids

2. Astaxanthin

3. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)

4. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)

5. Bioactive and functional pigments

6. Natural dyes

7. Polysaccharides

8. Antioxidants and algal extracts

 Species
Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis
Arthrospira (Spirulina)
Aphanizomenon flos-aquae
Chlorella spp
Chlorella vulgaris
Dunaliella salina
Haematococcus pluvialis
Odontella aurita
Porphyridium cruentum
Isochrysis galbana
Phaedactylum tricomutum
Lyngbya majuscule
Scennedesmas spp
Schizochytrium sp
Crypthecodinium cohnii
Nannochloropsis oculata
Nannochloropsis sp
Product Application
Phycocyanin, biomass Health food, cosmetics
Protein, Vitamin B12 Antioxidant capsule, immune system
Protein, essential fatty acids, β-carotene Health food, food supplement
Animal nutrition, health drinks, food
Biomass, Carbohydrate extract
supplement
Biomass, Carbohydrate extract Health food, food supplement, feeds
Carotenoids, β-carotene Health food, food supplement, feeds
Carotenoids, astaxanthin Health food, pharmaceuticals, feeds
Pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, anti-
Fatty acids, EPA
inflammatory
Polysaccharides Pharmaceuticals, cosmetics
Fatty acids Animal nutrition
Lipids, fatty acids Nutrition, fuel production
Immune modulators Pharmaceuticals, nutrition
Protein Aquaculture, human nutrition
DHA and EPA Food, beverage and food supplement
Brain development, Infant health and
DHA
nutrition
Biomass Food for larval and juvenile marine Fish
EPA Food supplement and pharmaceuticals
 Spirullina
• Spirulina (Arthrospira) is symbiotic, multicellular and filamentous blue-green microalgae that
utilises nitrogen
from air

• It can have two distinctive shapes: spiral rod or disk-like

• The main photosynthetic pigment of Spirulina is phycocyanin (blue colour)

• The Spirulina microalgae also contain chlorophyll-a and carotenoids

• Some contain pigment phycoythrin making the colour of microalgae red or pink

• Spirulina are photosynthetic and therefore autotrophic and they reproduce by binary fission

• global production of Spirulina sp. was 86,000 tonnes in 2014

• Spirulina is one of the well-studied algae for large-scale outdoor culture

• It grows best at a high pH (9-11) and high bicarbonate concentrations

• Paddle-wheel driven raceway ponds are used to culture Spirulina

• The water depth in the pond generally varies from 300 to 500 mm depending upon season and
microalgal density

• The pond water depth is also dependent on pond size, flow velocity and optimal light
absorption by the algal culture

• It grows well between the temperature of 35°C and 37°C

• As Spirulina is filamentous its harvesting is relatively easy

• Its initial concentration is achieved using either an inclined gravity screen or a vibrating
screen filter

• Further dewatering is undertaken by a vacuum belt filter making a paste of about 15%
solids
 Nutrient rich spirulina
• Spirulina is rich in proteins, vitamins, essential amino acids, minerals and essential
polyunsaturated fatty acid and pigments including phycocyanin, myxoxanthophyl and
zeaxanthin

• Spirulina contains 46–71% protein, 8-16% carbohydrate and 4-9% lipids

• Spirulina’s essential amino acids contain are leucine, isoleucine and valine

• It also contains a relative high concentration of provitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin K and β-
carotene

• The fatty acids of Spirulina contain linolenic and γ-linolenic acid, and ω-3 and ω-6
polyunsaturated fatty acids

• Sprirulina platensis is a natural source of DHA accounting up to 9.1% of the total fatty acids

• It also contains an antioxidant rich mixture of over 10 carotenoids

 Chlorella
• Chlorella species are single-cell, spherical shaped (~2 to 10 μm in diameter) and
photoautotrophic green microalga with no flagella

• Chlorella contains the green photosynthetic pigments chlorophyll-a and -b in its chloroplast

• It multiplies rapidly requiring only CO2, water, sunlight, and a small amount of minerals

• Chlorella has been grown commercially in photobioreactors, big circular tanks and in paddle-
wheel mixed open ponds or circular open ponds

• It is grown initially in small culture flasks indoors and these cultures are then used as inocula
for outdoor tanks and ponds

• The most commonly used outdoor culture systems are circular tanks and ponds

• The area of the largest pond is approximately 500 m2 with a depth of about 200 mm
• However, the production of microalgae for aquaculture is generally on a smaller scale, and in
many cases is carried out indoors in 20-40 L carboys or in large plastic bags (~ 1000 L in
volume)

• Chlorella is harvested by centrifugation or auto flocculation

• After harvesting the biomass is spray or drum-dried and the powder sold directly or used to
make tablets

• The biochemical composition of Chlorella shows that it contains

1. 11 –58 % protein

2. 12-28 % carbohydrate

3. 2-46 % lipids
 Dunaliella
• The microalgae Dunaliella are an edible, nutrient rich, single cell, flagellated extremophile
green microalgae

• It can also be found in many marine and freshwater habitats

• Dunaliella salina (D. salina) has drawn much attention due to its high levels of antioxidant
activities

• It is the best source of the carotenoid β-content as it contains high amount of β-carotene (up to
14% of dry biomass) compared to other known sources

• Dunaliella can grow over 30% NaCl saturation however its optimal growth salinity is ~ 22%
NaCl saturation

• Hence there are very few competing species or predators for Dunaliella and therefore a
simple open-pond culture is feasible for it

• D. salina is grown in either very large (5 to 200 Ha), shallow, unstirred ponds or in shallow
paddlewheel raceway ponds that are usually not greater than 1000 m2 in area

• A semi-continuous culture process is very popular for this species

• A 200 mg/m2 per day of β-carotene can be produced using raceway ponds equipped with
paddle wheels

• The intensive culture with nitrogen deficiency, high salt concentration and intense solar
radiation enhance successful Dunaliella biomass and β-carotene production

• Harvesting of Dunaliella is usually done by employing centrifugation, flocculation or a

method exploiting the
hydrophobic nature of the cell membrane

• Some difficulties associated with the harvesting of D. salina are :

1. lower cell densities in the culture (usually no more than 0.1 g dry weight per litre)
2. cells are of about the same density as the culture medium
3. cells are very fragile as they do not have a cell wall
4. ragility of the cell (if the cells are ruptured during harvesting, the β-carotene is rapidly
oxidized)

• The biochemical composition of Dunaliella is 49 –57% protein, 4-32% carbohydrate and 6-8%
lipids of its dry weight
 Haematococcus pluvialis
• Haematococcus pluvialis (H. pluvialis) is unicellular biflagellate freshwater Chlorophyta
microalga distributed worldwide

• This species is well known for its ability to accumulate large quantities of strong antioxidant
astaxanthin (up to 2-3% on dry weight) under stress conditions

• It may be noted that the principal commercial producing organism of astaxanthin is H.

pluvialis

• Photoautotrophic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic (on the basis of growth condition), indoor or
open raceway ponds or closed photobioreactors are used for H. pluvialis cultivation

• Typical photobioreactors used for cultivation include tubular, bubble column and airlift
photobioreactors

• A two-stage cultivation strategy is commonly adopted for the commercial production

• Typical photobioreactors used for cultivation

1. Tubular
2. Bubble column
3. Airlift photobioreactors

• First step involves growing the algal green biomass of motile-

stage in a closed system

• Second stage involves producing Astaxanthin under stress

condition
 Ideal Species
• Can withstand warm growth temperatures

• Show broad pH optima

• Withstand the mixture of gases that would accompany the

CO2 in typical combustion systems

• Accumulate high value metabolites under stressing and non-

stressing growth conditions

• Scalable to industrial-sized PBRs

 Commercial approach for PBR
• High area productivity (g m2 per day), since many costs scale with plant
size

• High volumetric productivity, since some costs scale with the amount of
water needed for culture

• Large volume, since some costs scale with the number of reactors needed

• Inexpensive to build and maintain

• Easy to control culture parameters (temperature, pH,

O2, turbulence)

• Reliability
 Conclusion
• Only microalgae can produce distinct metabolites that can be used for
harvesting a series of high value products

• Around 30,000 microalgal species have been identified

• Few hundred are investigated for chemical composition and metabolites

• Just a handful are cultivated in industrial scale for producing commercial

products

• Microalgae offer a unique opportunity to produce biofuel, food, feed,

cosmetics, biofertilizer, bioplastic and pharmaceuticals

• However to utilise the full potential of biotechnological benefits, further

studies are needed as many microalgal species are still unexploited