Algae-Mediated Carbon Dioxide Sequestration for Climate Change Mitigation and Conversion to Value-Added Products - Biotechnological Applications of Microalgae - page 172

TABLE 11.4
Biotechnological Application of Some Microalgae Species for
Food-Based Applications
Species/Group Product Application Areas Cultivation Systems

Spirulina platensis /
Cyanobacteria

Phycocyanin, biomass Health food, food color Open ponds,

natural lakes

Chlorella vulgaris /
Chlorophyta

Biomass Health food,

food supplement

Open ponds,
basins, glass-tube
photobioreactors

Dunaliella salina /
Chlorophyta

Carotenoids, β-carotene Health food,

food supplement

Open ponds, lagoons

Haematococcus
pluvialis /Chlorophyta

Carotenoids,
astaxanthin

Health food,
food supplement

Open ponds, closed
photobioreactors

Odontella aurita /
Bacillariphyta

Fatty acids Baby food Open ponds

Porphyridium
cruentum /Rhodophyta

Polysaccharides Nutrition Tubular

photobioreactors

Phaeodactylum
tricornutum /
Bacillariophyta

Lipids, fatty acids Nutrition Open ponds, basins

Lyngbya majuscola /
Cyanobacteria

Immune modulators Nutrition

Crypthecodinium
cohnii /Dinolagellata

Docosahexaenoic acid Supplement in infant

formulas, dietary
supplement

Heterotrophic
fermentation

Source: Adapted from Pulz and Gross (2004); and Raja et al. (2008).

to the qualitative and quantitative profiling of triacylglycerides and free fatty acids
(Ramos et al., 2009; Liu et al., 2010). These factors primarily influence the quality of
biodiesel produced. Once the right microalgae species have been selected consider-
ing all physico-chemical properties, culture conditions can be optimized to obtain
higher biomass productivity (Rodolfi et al., 2008) in an economical way in a raceway
pond and/or closed photobioreactor system. In addition, an understanding of micro-
algal behavior at the molecular level during the process of CO 2 tolerance and uptake
for intracellular lipid enhancement is a must.
Although CO 2 sequestration by microalgae into biomass and triacylglycerol stor-
age plays a critical role in an organism's ability to withstand stress, information
concerning the enzymes of CO 2 uptake and tolerance, triacylglycerol synthesis, their
regulation by nutrients, physiological conditions, their mechanisms of action along
with the roles of specific isoforms has been limited by the lack of studies on pro-
teomics and genomics (detailed protein and gene profiling) of microalgae for CO 2
sequestration and biodiesel production.
The exploration of the vast biodiversity of microalgae in natural habitats for
selection of suitable strains for CO 2 sequestration and VAPs is possible. Potential