Abstract
Astaxanthin (3,3′-dihydroxy-β,β-carotene-4,4′-dione), a high-value ketocarotenoid with a broad range of applications in food, feed, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries, has been gaining great attention from science and the public in recent years. The green microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis and Chlorella zofingiensis represent the most promising producers of natural astaxanthin. Although H. pluvialis possesses the highest intracellular astaxanthin content and is now believed to be a good producer of astaxanthin, it has intrinsic shortcomings such as slow growth rate, low biomass yield, and a high light requirement. In contrast, C. zofingiensis grows fast phototrophically, heterotrophically and mixtrophically, is easy to be cultured and scaled up both indoors and outdoors, and can achieve ultrahigh cell densities. These robust biotechnological traits provide C. zofingiensis with high potential to be a better organism than H. pluvialis for mass astaxanthin production. This review aims to provide an overview of the biology and industrial potential of C. zofingiensis as an alternative astaxanthin producer. The path forward for further expansion of the astaxanthin production from C. zofingiensis with respect to both challenges and opportunities is also discussed.
Highlights
Microalgae are sunlight-driven cell factories that are able to efficiently utilize carbon dioxide for the production of numerous products such as proteins, polysaccharides, oils, vitamins, carotenoids and other biologically active compounds, and are used in a wide variety of technological applications for the development of feed and food products [1,2]
We propose a heterotrophic-phototrophic two-stage culture strategy to grow C. zofingiensis to improve production of astaxanthin: C. zofingiensis is first cultured heterotrophically in fermenters for rapid accumulation of biomass which is transferred to PBRs with high light conditions for the induction of astaxanthin
Microalgae represent a promising source of natural astaxanthin that can potentially replace the chemically synthesized astaxanthin
Summary
Microalgae are sunlight-driven cell factories that are able to efficiently utilize carbon dioxide for the production of numerous products such as proteins, polysaccharides, oils, vitamins, carotenoids and other biologically active compounds, and are used in a wide variety of technological applications for the development of feed and food products [1,2]. Because of its strong pigmentation function, powerful antioxidative activity and broad beneficial effects on human health, astaxanthin possesses a wide range of applications in feed, food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries [8,9,10]. C. zofingiensis grows fast phototrophically, heterotrophically and mixtrophically, is easy to be cultured and scaled up both indoors and outdoors, achieves ultrahigh cell density, and is regarded as a potential alternative to H. pluvialis to produce astaxanthin [7,11,12,13,14]. Breakthroughs and innovations occurring in these areas will greatly expand the production capacity and lower the production cost, driving C. zofingiensis into the high-value market for cost-effective production of astaxanthin
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