Abstract
Microorganisms are considered one of the most promising niches for prospecting, production, and application of bioactive compounds of biotechnological interest. Among them, bacteria offer certain distinctive advantages due to their short life cycle, their low sensitivity to seasonal and climatic changes, their easy scaling as well as their ability to produce pigments of various colors and shades. Natural pigments have attracted the attention of industry due to an increasing interest in the generation of new products harmless to humans and nature. This is because pigments of artificial origin used in industry can have various deleterious effects. On this basis, bacterial pigments promise to be an attractive niche of new biotechnological applications, from functional food production to the generation of new drugs and biomedical therapies. This review endeavors to establish the beneficial properties of several relevant pigments of bacterial origin and their relation to applications in the biomedical area.
Highlights
Laboratory of Molecular Applied Biology, Center of Excellence in Translational Medicine, Scientific and Technological Bioresource Nucleus (BIOREN), Universidad de La Frontera, Abstract: Microorganisms are considered one of the most promising niches for prospecting, production, and application of bioactive compounds of biotechnological interest
Bacterial pigments promise to be an attractive niche of new biotechnological applications that can be mass-produced quickly and aimed at several industrial areas, from functional food production to the generation of new drugs and biomedical therapies
This review endeavors to establish the beneficial properties of several relevant pigments of bacterial origin to relate them to possible applications in the biomedical area and for human health
Summary
Natural products were the beginning and main source of treatments for hundreds of years; the application of bioactive natural metabolites in traditional medicine, and the discovery of new drugs continue to be active and constant [1]. The amount of “natural pigment” published articles doubled during the last 10 years, which microorganisms like bacteria, yeasts, and fungi contributed to the increased amount of research articles through these years (Figure 1) [4] This may be attributed to the wide range of pigments and dyes of artificial origin being used in the production and manufacture of foods, dyes, cosmetics, and drugs, which have had various adverse effects [5]. Bacteria offer certain distinctive advantages over their counterparts, due to their short life cycle, their low sensitivity to seasonal and climatic changes, their easy scaling as well as their capacity to produce pigments of various colors and shades [7] On this basis, bacterial pigments promise to be an attractive niche of new biotechnological applications that can be mass-produced quickly and aimed at several industrial areas, from functional food production to the generation of new drugs and biomedical therapies. (c) “Natural Pigments and Fungi”; (d) “Natural Pigments and Yeast” trends in the last 10 years
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