Abstract
Microalgae contain a variety of bioactive lipids with potential applications in aquaculture feed, biofuel, food and pharmaceutical industries. While microalgae-derived polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and their roles in promoting human health have been extensively studied, other lipid types from this resource, such as phytosterols, have been poorly explored. Phytosterols have been used as additives in many food products such as spread, dairy products and salad dressing. This review focuses on the recent advances in microalgae-derived phytosterols with functional bioactivities and their potential applications in functional food and pharmaceutical industries. It highlights the importance of microalgae-derived lipids other than PUFA for the development of an advanced microalgae industry.
Highlights
Microalgae contain a variety of bioactive lipids with potential applications in aquaculture feed, biofuel, food and pharmaceutical industries
The side chain of microalgal phytosterol contains an alkyl substitution at C24, which is added by sterol methyltransferase (SMT) in a step other than methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) or mevalonic acid (MVA) pathways
It was suggested that these bioactive sterols were functioned by inhibiting the accumulation of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), which is a polyamine biosynthetic enzyme induced by TPA treatment
Summary
There has been no standardisation of phytosterol nomenclature. The most commonly adopted phytosterol nomenclature is in the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and International. Phytosterols have a double bond between C5 and C6 and methyl groups at C10 and C13. From domain D, the length, position of double bond, absence or presence of a methyl or ethyl group, saturation and stereochemistry of the C24 alkyl side chain are critical to intermolecular contacts and function of phytosterols [2]. Most of the microalgal phytosterols are in the free form with a relatively small number of conjugated forms. Conjugates are present as phytosterols with covalently bounded molecules fatty acids and sugars at the OH group at C3 [4]
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