Bioeconomic Assessment of Microalgal Production

Today, microalgae play an important role for the worldwide biofuel demand, together with the production of high value-added products used in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetic industries. In 2014, the European Union adopted a strategy for developing the bioeconomy, by utilizing microalgae which represent an emerging biological resource of great importance for its potential applications in different fields. Huge potential of tiny microalgae could support a microalgae-based biorefinery and microalgae-based bioeconomy opening up vast opportunities in the global algae business. Nevertheless, in spite of having been studied for over 50 years now, there are still only just a few corporations that are cultivating algae on a large or commercial scale due to operational and capital cost. Techno-economic modeling is a powerful tool for guiding research priorities and assessing the economics, environmental impact and sustainability of microalgal productions. In this chapter, microalgal productions are assessed within bioeconomical aspects and case-studies on microalgal biorefinery are discussed

Recent Advances in Health Biotechnology During Pandemic

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in 2019, cut the epoch that will make profound fluctuates in the history of the world in social, economic, and scientific fields. Urgent needs in public health have brought with them innovative approaches, including diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. To exceed the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, various scientific authorities in the world have procreated advances in real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based diagnostic tests, rapid diagnostic kits, the development of vaccines for immunization, and the purposing pharmaceuticals for treatment. Diagnosis, treatment, and immunization approaches put for- ward by scientific communities are cross-fed from the accrued knowledge of multidisciplinary sciences in health biotechnology. So much so that the pandemic, urgently prioritized in the world, is not only viral infections but also has been the pulsion in the development of novel approaches in many fields such as diagnosis, treatment, translational medicine, virology, mi- crobiology, immunology, functional nano- and bio-materials, bioinformatics, molecular biol- ogy, genetics, tissue engineering, biomedical devices, and artificial intelligence technologies. In this review, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of various scientific areas of health biotechnology are discussed

Biodiesel Production from Chlorella protothecoides Oil by Microwave-Assisted Transesterification

In this study, biodiesel production from microalgal oil by microwave-assisted transesterification was carried out to investigate its efficiency. Transesterification reactions were performed by using Chlorella protothecoides oil as feedstock, methanol, and potassium hydroxide as the catalyst. Methanol:oil ratio, reaction time and catalyst:oil ratio were investigated as process parameters affected methyl ester yield. 9:1 methanol/oil molar ratio, 1.5% KOH catalyst/oil ratio and 10 min were optimum values for the highest fatty acid methyl ester yield

Comparison of the anticancer effect of microalgal oils and microalgal oil-loaded electrosprayed nanoparticles against PC-3, SHSY-5Y and AGS cell lines

Many of the bioactive substances used in pharmaceutical industry are easily affected by temperature, light and oxygen, and are easily degraded during storage and processing, and exhibit poor adsorption properties during digestion, which limits their direct use. Microalgae are rich in oils which have antimicrobial properties and antioxidants that attract attention in both food and pharmaceutical sectors in recent years. Studies to encapsulate bioactive compound-rich microalgae oils with nanotechnological approaches to improve the physical and chemical stability are relatively new, and it is promising to apply these approaches for pharmaceutical purposes. In this study, cytotoxic effects of oil extracts of Botryococcus braunii and Microcystis aeruginosa and their oil-loaded nanoparticles on L929 cell line, PC-3 prostate cell line, SHSY-5Y neuroblastoma cell line and AGS gastric adenocarcinoma cell line were investigated. The obtained extracts were found to have no cytotoxic effect on L929 cells. However, they showed cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. As for the nanoparticles; a gradual release was determined and the stability of the nanoparticle structure was shown. In the light of obtained findings, it was considered that nanoparticles produced with oil extracts of microalgae which have bioactive substances, have potential to be evaluated especially in pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields

An Optimization Study of Lipid Extraction from Chlorella minutissima for Biodiesel Production

Nowadays, researches on microalgal biodiesel production are focused on to improve the process efficiency and reduce the operational costs. One of the most expensive steps in microalgal biodiesel production is lipid extraction of microalgae. In this study, C. minutissima microalgae was produced in photobioreactor, and then solvent extraction of microalgal lipids were investigated. Box-Behnken design (BBD) was used to study the effect of extraction temperature, solvent/biomass ratio and residence time of solvent on the oil yield and to optimize lipid extraction. The maximum extraction yield was found to be 75% under the conditions of at the temperature of 70°C, 30:1 solvent/biomass ratio and 8 h. This study showed that the most effective parameter on extraction yield was temperature among three parameters. The results showed that optimized process conditions improved the extraction yield and it is a cost-effective way to produce biodiesel efficiently

Optimization of biodiesel production from Chlorella protothecoides oil via ultrasound assisted transesterification

There is a growing interest in biodiesel as an alternative fuel for diesel engines because of the high oil prices and environmental issues related to massive greenhouse gas emissions. Nowadays, microalgal biomass has become a promising biodiesel feedstock. However, traditional biodiesel production from microalgae consumes a lot of energy and solvents. It is necessary to use an alternative method that can reduce the energy and alcohol consumption and save time. In this study, biodiesel production from Chlorella protothecoides oil by ultrasound assisted transesterification was conducted and effects of reaction parameters such as methanol:oil ratio, catalyst/oil ratio and reaction time on fatty acid methyl ester yields were investigated. The transesterification reactions were carried out by using methanol as alcohol and potassium hydroxide as the catalyst. The highest methyl ester production was obtained under the conditions of 9:1 methanol/oil mole ratio, 1.5% potassium hydroxide catalyst in oil, and for reaction time of 40 min. It was also found that catalyst/oil molar ratio was the most effective parameter on methyl ester yield according to statistical data. The results showed that ultrasound-assisted transesterification may be an alternative and cost effective way to produce biodiesel efficiently

A Review on Algal Biopolymers

Polymers are the most important materials we use in many areas of daily life. Without them humanity could not shape today’s world. However, major source of polymeric material is fossil fuels which decrease constantly. Therefore, alternative resources are needed to be discovered especially from biological source for sustainable polymer production. Biopolymers are polymers developed from renewable resources such as plant, animal, bacteria, fungi and algae. They can also be useful in material and many other applications. Algae are one of the most promising organisms in many aspects. Since they grow fast, contain variety of unique value added material and do not compete with food resources, and also they have high bioenergy feedstock potential. In this study, algae are considered as feedstock for biopolymer production and biopolymers derived from algae are investigated. Throughout this study algae derived biopolymers were classified as three types. First type of polymer obtained from algae are natural polymers (polysaccharides, lipids, extracellular polymeric substance). Especially polysaccharides from algae such as alginate and agar are well known for their biotechnological applications. Second type is polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) which accumulate in only cyanobacteria. And third type is bio-based polymers polymerized from algae derived monomer, they can have same characteristics with conventional synthetic polymer. This review study will give an idea especially about the algal biopolymers, their resources, properties, structures, application areas, production methods and their future potentials