Chapter 43 - Quality control of microalgae-derived products

Abstract

The control of quality is a fundamental step in the validation of any product derived from vegetal material, including nutraceuticals and food supplements containing microalgae as a principal ingredient. The composition of a market product is the key factor to ensuring safety, efficacy, and availability. Appropriate analytical tools are necessary to test the identity of the utilized raw material. Microalgae are very different from plants, which are used for phytomedicines, botanical food supplements, herbal remedies, or herbiceuticals. Pharmaceutical drugs are based on available compounds with high purity and defined structure, as artificial chemical(s). On the contrary, herbal products consist of complex combinations of many different active constituents of plants or their parts to be used for health-promoting, disease-preventing, or semi-medicinal purposes. Bioactive principles, i.e., herbs, extracts, or concentrates, are used in “herbal formulations,” which can contain also several plants. On the contrary, in the case of microalgae-derived products, the constituents are limited to one or two species, whose structure is very different from a plant. Although the botanical identification of the raw material must be determined, insured, certified, and reported on the label of any marketed product, especially for microalgae, the tool should primarily independently evidence and confirm the identity of the utilized raw material.