Abstract
Valorisation of the efficacy of 9-cis beta-carotene in treating atherosclerosis, psoriasis, and inhibiting atherogenesis and retinitis pigmentosa is becoming increasingly urgent, but supplies of 9-cis beta-carotene are scarce and this compound is difficult to synthesise chemically, unlike the much more common all-trans form. Innovative products, processes and services in an algal biorefinery that rely on renewable biological resources instead of fossil fuel alternatives offer the potential to lower the energy costs of traditional chemical processes and reduce carbon emissions, water usage and waste. In 2013, the European Commission supported development of 4 microalgal biorefinery projects to assess the potential for innovative approaches to tackle the major challenges intrinsic to the development of the algae biorefineries. One of these was the D-Factory (KBBE.2013.3.2-02) which sought to evaluate requirements for sustainable, industrial-scale production of Dunaliella salina and extraction of its carotenoids, especially 9-cis beta-carotene in a CO2 microalgae biorefinery. Here we present findings of the D-Factory project and propose a way forward for industrial-scale production of 9-cis beta-carotene using biotechnology based on Dunaliella salina biomass. Cultivation improvements are able to deliver more than double the current levels of productivity, with increased sustainability, whilst the use of natural hyper-accumulating carotenogenic strains combined with the use of red light to boost production of the beta-carotene pathway, will increase the relative concentration of 9-cis beta-carotene in extracts of carotenoids with consequent improvements in downstream processing. These developments pave the way for acquiring data for a Medicine Licence and prepare the market for entry of novel 9-cis beta-carotene products.
Highlights
In the field of biotechnology, the use of microalgal biomass resources is evolving exponentially through research efforts to exploit algal metabolism to synthesise and accumulate a wide range of compounds of industrial interest, as well as lower the energy costs of traditional chemical processes and reduce carbon emissions, water usage and waste [1]
In 2013, the executive branch of the European Union, the European Commission, supported development of 4 microalgal biorefinery projects to assess the potential for innovative approaches to tackle the major challenges intrinsic to the development of the algae biorefineries for production of high value-added products such as polymers, pharmaceuticals, oils and chemicals, bioactive compounds and colorants
The strains have been uniquely identified in a phylogenetic tree developed using molecular bar-coding and shown to differ in comparative studies of their growth and ability to accumulate high contents of individual carotenoids, chlorophyll and glycerol when cultivated under strictly-controlled laboratory conditions [57,58]
Summary
In the field of biotechnology, the use of microalgal biomass resources is evolving exponentially through research efforts to exploit algal metabolism to synthesise and accumulate a wide range of compounds of industrial interest, as well as lower the energy costs of traditional chemical processes and reduce carbon emissions, water usage and waste [1]. In 2013, the executive branch of the European Union, the European Commission, supported development of 4 microalgal biorefinery projects to assess the potential for innovative approaches to tackle the major challenges intrinsic to the development of the algae biorefineries for production of high value-added products such as polymers, pharmaceuticals, oils and chemicals, bioactive compounds and colorants. A further aim was to deliver a robust scientific and technological basis for substantiating strategic decisions for the industrial development of algae for high added-value products. One of these was the D-Factory (KBBE.2013.3.2-02) [2], which sought to evaluate requirements for sustainable, industrial-scale production of Dunaliella salina and extraction of its carotenoids, especially 9-cis β-carotene, in a CO2 microalgae biorefinery
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