Assessing the application of marine microalgae Dunaliella salina in a biorefinery context: production of value‐added biobased products

Abstract

AbstractMicroalgae are a rich source of bioactive compounds such as pigments, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and other substances of interest. Thus, given the possible variety of products that can be obtained from them, it is important to determine their biochemical composition, taking into consideration the species and cultivation conditions, so that they can be used as feedstock in biorefineries, with the aim of using all the biomass in the biorefining processes and increasing its economic viability. This work aimed to characterize the biochemical composition of the microalgae Dunalliela salina in a multi‐product biorefinery context, focusing on the production of high value‐added compounds such as pigments and biofuels. The biomass concentration obtained was 1.15 g·L−1 and the volumetric productivity was 164.28 mg·L−1·day−1, providing fractions of 23.86 ± 0.24% of lipids, 10.80 ± 0.86% of carbohydrates, and 5.71 ± 0.50% of proteins. The microalgal biomass contained pigment concentrations of 0.896 and 0.5380 mg·g−1of chlorophylls a and b, and 0.2043 mg·g−1 of total carotenoids. Thus, the data suggest that D. salina has biotechnological potential for application in integrated multi‐product biorefineries, focused on obtaining energy and high added value products simultaneously.