Abstract
A bibliographic database of scientific papers published by authors affiliated worldwide, especially focused in Europe and in the European Atlantic Area, and containing the keywords “microalga(e)” or “phytoplankton” was built. A corpus of 79,020 publications was obtained and analyzed using the Orbit Intellixir software to highlight the evolution of the research domain. Publication rates from 1960 to 2019, organization of the research, collaboration networks between countries and organizations, emerging and fading research concepts, major studied species, and associated concepts, as well as journals publishing microalgae research were considered. As a result, of the 79,020 papers published worldwide, 26,137 included authors from Europe (33% of world production) and 6989 from the European Atlantic Area (AA) (27% of European production, 9% of world production). The main worldwide scientific research topics found in this study were phytoplankton, community, bloom, diatoms, distribution, ecosystem, coastal, chlorophyll, zooplankton, photosynthesis, and primary production. At the European scale, the most studied topics were related to the environment, food, chemicals, pigments, protein, feed, and drugs. The highest scientific trends and market opportunities analysis identified bioplastics and biostimulants as top emerging concepts at the European level and agricultural, animal feed, and blue biotechnology at the European AA level.
Highlights
Microalgae, with an estimated number of 30,000 to 1,000,000 species, constitute a vast group of microorganisms extensively studied for their ecological functions in marine and freshwater environments and possible use as a source of feed, food, cosmetics, biofuels, nanomaterials, and pharmaceuticals [1]
We present an researchers, host biotech companies, and technological platforms working in international research in-depth review of microalgae research in a worldwide context, in Europe, and the European AA
Levels, our study aimed to give a relevant overview of microalgae research until 2019, an in-depth analysis of research concepts and collaborations, and a European perspective on emerging topics
Summary
Microalgae, with an estimated number of 30,000 to 1,000,000 species, constitute a vast group of microorganisms extensively studied for their ecological functions in marine and freshwater environments and possible use as a source of feed, food, cosmetics, biofuels, nanomaterials, and pharmaceuticals [1]. Active research on microalgae started in western countries in the early 1950s, when growth systems allowing their production at the lab and industrial scale were first developed [2,3]. Since these pioneering works, research has progressively increased, diversified, and spread all over the world. The current research effort is mainly dedicated to isolate new strains, characterize the ecophysiology and metabolites of microalgae, model their productivity, control and improve the production of high added-value compounds, and develop sustainable and innovative applications. Europe and the European Atlantic Area (AA) present a strong potential for research, innovation, and industrial development as they bring together a critical number of expert
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