Algal proteins: Production strategies and nutritional and functional properties

Animal-based proteins are the most consumed worldwide given their well-balanced nutritional composition. However, the growing demand for animal proteins will not be sustainable due to their low conversion efficiency and high environmental footprint. Specific consumers dietary restrictions and modern trends emphasize the importance of finding alternative sustainable non-animal sources to meet future food (and, in particular, protein) global needs. Algal biomass is considered a relevant alternative, presenting advantages over terrestrial biomass such as higher growth rate, low water consumption, no competition for arable land, carbonneutral emissions, and production of numerous bioactive compounds. This review provides an overview of recent research advances on algae as source of proteins, including production strategies from relevant protein-producing species. Particular emphasis will be given to algae protein current applications and forthcoming challenges of their use. Nutritional and functional aspects of algae biomass or its protein-enriched fractions will be overviewed.This research work was supported by ALGAVALOR - Lisboa-01-0247- FEDER-035234, supported by Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE2020), Lisbon Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa 2020) and Algarve Regional Operational Programme (Algarve 2020) under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This study was also supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and with a Ph.D. scholarship - SFRH/BD/07527/2020 - and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER 000004) funded by the ERDF under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Ricardo N. Pereira acknowledge FCT for its Assistant Research program under the scope of Scientific Stimulus Employment with reference CEECIND/02903/2017.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio