Description
TAYLOR & FRANCIS Sustainable Downstream Processing Of Microalgae For Industrial Application 1St Edition 2020 by Gayen K
Microalgae can be future resource for industrial biotechnology
In current energy crisis era, microalgae are under tremendous research focus for the production of biodiesel due to their high photosynthetic efficiency, growth rate and high lipid content compared to territorial plants. However, the large-scale production of algal biomass and downstream processing of harvested algae towards bio-fuels are facing several challenges from economic viability perspective. Apart from bio-fuels, the microalgae synthesize number of bio-molecules such as pigments (e.g., chlorophyll, carotenoid), protein (e.g., lectin, phycobiliprotein), and carbohydrates (e.g., agar, carrageenan, alginate, fucodian) which are available in the various forms of microalgal products. Therefore, developing a strategy for large-scale production and use of algal biomass for the co-production of these value-added macromolecules is thus imperative for the improvement of the economics of algal biorefinery.