Lecture 4. Bioactivies from Microalgae for Functional Food Applications

Abstract

The world population is increasing day to day and it is expected to outreach 9.7 billion by 2050. Demand for bioactivities from natural sources rather than synthetic ones has increased in the global market. Microalgae produce various bioactivities such as lipids, fatty acids (EPA and DHA), carotenoids, amino acids, vitamins, and proteins etc. and they are used in food, feed, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical applications. These bioactivities from microalgae can be produced under various algal culture conditions such as autotrophic, mix-trophic, and heterotrophic. Microalgae are grown in raceways and photobioreactors for the production of larger quantities of bioactivities. Bioactivities from microalgae for functional foods are well accepted by consumers. However, the number of products that are launched into the market is limited compared to the potential it has for expansion. Among the industrially important species, the prominent ones are Spirulina, Chlorella, Haematococcus and Dunaliella which are cultivated for commercial applications. Extensive research was carried out by us on H. pluvialis is green microalga as it accumulates astaxanthin and astaxanthin esters which are used as food ingredients and food supplements. This presentation covered the importance of microalgal forms for functional food applications. The aspects of constituents of microalgae, cultivation methodologies, challenges in a scaleup, downstream processing, purification as well as evaluation of biological activities and product formulations will be described to highlight the industrial production scenario for present and future applications.