Cyanobacteria-based bioprocess for cosmetic products—cyanobium sp. as a novel source of bioactive pigments

As a producer of pigments with known bioactive potential, cyanobacteria are a great source of active ingredients for cosmetics (i.e., carotenoids and phycobiliproteins). Multiple phases in the cyanobacteria-based bioprocess led to the obtention of these compounds. The marine Cyanobium sp. LEGE 06113 has been proposed as a promising source for pigments for cosmetic uses, and it has been optimized in the past few years in terms of production, extraction, and application of pigment extracts. This report aims at providing an overview of the cyanobacteria-based bioprocess, regarding optimization strategies, consolidating into a proposed bioprocess for this cyanobacterium. The optimization of Cyanobium sp. included strategies regarding its production (culture medium, light, temperature, pH and salinity) and extraction (successive solvent extraction and ohmic heating). After the optimization, the two pigment-rich extracts (carotenoids and phycobiliproteins) were assessed in terms of their cosmetic potential and compatibility as an ingredient. Finally, aiming a scale-up proposal, life cycle assessment (LCA) was used as tool for a sustainable process. Ultimately, the proposed process gives the possibility to obtain two stable cosmetic ingredients from the same biomass and applied as anti-agent agents, especially due to their high anti-hyaluronidase capacity. Moreover, there remain challenges and information regarding novel cosmetic ingredient regulations were also discussed.This work was co-supported by a PhD fellowship granted to author F.P. [SFRH/BD/136767/2018] funded by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) under the auspices of Operational Program Human Capital (POCH), supported by the European Social Fund and Por tuguese funds (MECTES); as well as by the national funds through FCT, (UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020) to CIIMAR and (UIDB/04469/2020) to CEB.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Extraction of pigments from microalgae and cyanobacteria - A review on current methodologies

Pigments from microalgae and cyanobacteria have attracted great interest for industrial applications due to their bioactive potential and their natural product attributes. These pigments are usually sold as extracts, to overcome purification costs. The extraction of these compounds is based on cell disruption methodologies and chemical solubility of compounds. Different cell disruption methodologies have been used for pigment extraction, such as sonication, homogenization, high-pressure, CO2 supercritical fluid extraction, enzymatic extraction, and some other promising extraction methodologies such as ohmic heating and electric pulse technologies. The biggest constrain on pigment bioprocessing comes from the installation and operation costs; thus, fundamental and applied research are still needed to overcome such constrains and give the microalgae and cyanobacteria industry an opportunity in the world market. In this review, the main extraction methodologies will be discussed, taking into account the advantages and disadvantages for each kind of pigment, type of organism, cost, and final market.Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) under the auspices of Operational Program Human Capital (POCH), supported by the European Social Fund and Portuguese funds (MECTES); as well as by the national funds through FCT within the scope of UIDB/04423/2020, UIDP/04423/2020 and UIDB/04469/2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Identifying key environmental indicators in the assessment of the proof-of-concept in pigment production from the marine Cyanobacterium cyanobium sp.

Cyanobacteria have long attracted market interest as a source of natural compounds such as pigments with proven bioactivity (carotenoid and phycobiliproteins). The cultivation and extraction processes for such compounds have been developed at different levels, from laboratory trials to photobioreactors on a demonstration scale. Based on this experience, it is possible to propose how the different stages of the process can be improved based on environmental performance indicators. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology allows to identify the hotspots that represent the greatest environmental impacts and to propose strategies to focus on those stages that can be improved. The general environmental indicators have been identified and the results showed that cyanobacteria cultivation has the greatest influence on environmental impact for all scales considered (from 20 L to 100 m3), which is attributed to the energy requirements. The main changes proposed to reduce the impact should focus on the stages of reactor cleaning, culture medium sterilisation and biomass drying. The implementation of these improvement alternatives can reduce the impact of the production and extraction processes by 85%. This work demonstrates how technological development must go hand in hand with impact assessment to make the best decisions in the overall process.A PhD fellowship [SFRH/BD/136767/2018] for author F.P. was granted by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) under the auspices of Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH), supported by the European Social Fund and Portuguese funds (MECTES). This work was financially co-supported by Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C 2017/29) and to the Cross-disciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS Research Center, ED431E 2018/01) and by the strategical funding from FCT (UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020) to CIIMAR and (UIDB/04469/2020) to CEB.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pigments extraction from Cyanobium sp. a comparison between pressure-based and electric fields-based technologies

Pigments from cyanobacteria, in special carotenoids and phycobiliproteins, have been seen with considerable interest for industrial applications due to their bioactive properties and their natural product characteristics. The extraction of these compounds is focused on the methodologies of cell disruption and on the chemical solubility of the compounds. In this study, two different methods were optimised and evaluated in terms of pigments´ extraction from the marine cyanobacterium Cyanobium sp.: a continuous pressurized solvent extraction (CPSE) system, and an electric fields-assisted extraction system based in ohmic heating (OH). For each method, a Central Composite Design (23) was performed. Optimal conditions for each extraction method were then compared to determine the best method for the extraction of pigments from Cyanobium sp. In both optimisation and comparison steps, two extracts were obtained from the same biomass: an ethanolic extract (carotenoids-targeted) and a successive water extract (phycobiliproteins-targeted). The content and profile of carotenoids and phycobiliproteins and the respective antioxidant capacity of extracts were evaluated. OH provided the best ethanolic extract, with a carotenoids content of 41.6 ± 1.7 mg gDW-1, and total antioxidant capacity of 8.0 ± 0.3 mgTE gDW-1, representing an increase of 1.3-fold and 2.5-fold respectively, when compared to CPSE. Regarding the aqueous extract, both methods led to the same content of phycobiliprotein (135 ± 10.0 mg gDW-1), although OH led to an antioxidant capacity of this extract of 8.3 ± 0.3 mgTE gDW-1, 3.6-fold higher when compared to CPSE. In terms of profile, no major variation was found between extraction methods, being lutein, zeaxanthin, echinenone and -carotene the major carotenoids (>60 % of total carotenoids), and phycocyanin and allophycocyanin the only present phycobiliproteins (in a 1:2 ratio). In addition to the productivity and composition of the extracts, the design and applicability of the system must be considered. Once again, OH overtook the other methods due to the scalability and possible continuous operation. Overall, OH proved to be the best of the two methodologies for pigments co-extraction from Cyanobium sp..A PhD fellowship (reference SFRH/BD/136767/2018) for author Fernando Pagels was granted by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) under the auspices of Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH), supported by the European Social Fund and Portuguese funds (MECTES). This work was financially co-supported by the strategical funding from FCT UIDB/04423/2020, UIDP/04423/2020 and UIDB/04469/2020; and the project ALGAVALOR – MicroALGAs: produção integrada e VALORização da biomassa e das suas diversas aplicações (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-035234), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cosmetic Potential of Pigments Extracts from the Marine Cyanobacterium Cyanobium sp.

The current mindset in the cosmetics market about sustainable ingredients had increased the search for new sources of natural active ingredients. Cyanobacteria are a great source of functional ingredients for cosmetics, as a producer of pigments with described bioactive potential (carotenoids and phycobiliproteins). This work aimed to evaluate the cosmetic potential of marine cyanobacterium Cyanobium sp. pigment-targeted extracts (carotenoids and phycobiliproteins), evaluating their in vitro safety through cytotoxicity assays, cosmetic-related enzyme inhibition, ingredient stability, and putative product (serum formulation). Results showed no cytotoxicity from the extracts in skin-related cell lines. Carotenoid extract showed anti-hyaluronidase capacity (IC50 = 108.74 ± 5.74 mg mL−1) and phycobiliprotein extract showed anti-hyaluronidase and anti-collagenase capacity (IC50 = 67.25 ± 1.18 and 582.82 ± 56.99 mg mL−1, respectively). Regarding ingredient and serum stability, both ingredients showed higher stability at low-temperature conditions, and it was possible to maintain the pigment content and bioactive capacity stable during the tested period, although in higher temperatures the product was degraded in a week. As a major conclusion, both extracts can be potential natural and sustainable ingredients for cosmetic uses, with relatively simple formulation and storage, and can be promising natural anti-aging ingredients due to their bioactive capacity

Carotenoids from Cyanobacteria: Biotechnological Potential and Optimization Strategies

Carotenoids are tetraterpenoids molecules present in all photosynthetic organisms, responsible for better light-harvesting and energy dissipation in photosynthesis. In cyanobacteria, the biosynthetic pathway of carotenoids is well described, and apart from the more common compounds (e.g., β-carotene, zeaxanthin, and echinenone), specific carotenoids can also be found, such as myxoxanthophyll. Moreover, cyanobacteria have a protein complex called orange carotenoid protein (OCP) as a mechanism of photoprotection. Although cyanobacteria are not the organism of choice for the industrial production of carotenoids, the optimisation of their production and the evaluation of their bioactive capacity demonstrate that these organisms may indeed be a potential candidate for future pigment production in a more environmentally friendly and sustainable approach of biorefinery. Carotenoids-rich extracts are described as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumoral agents and are proposed for feed and cosmetical industries. Thus, several strategies for the optimisation of a cyanobacteria-based bioprocess for the obtention of pigments were described. This review aims to give an overview of carotenoids from cyanobacteria not only in terms of their chemistry but also in terms of their biotechnological applicability and the advances and the challenges in the production of such compounds

Seaweed Cosmetics under the Spotlight of Sustainability

Seaweeds represent a diverse and valuable source of cosmetic compounds such as vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, antioxidants, etc., with moisturizing, anti-inflammatory, and regenerative effects. The so-called “blue cosmetics” represent a line of products related to the use of natural active ingredients and an important market share in major international cosmetic brands. To be recognised as environmentally sustainable, it is essential to ensure that algae-derived products comply with environmentally sound harvesting, production, and extraction practices. In this work, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was used to carry out an environmental impact assessment of the processing of the brown algae extract from Fucus vesiculosus and its comparative profile with the most used antioxidants in cosmetics: vitamin C and green tea extracts. Considering an equivalent formulation in antioxidant content, the results showed that seaweed has the lowest environmental load while green tea extracts have the highest environmental impact. Furthermore, to further reduce emissions from seaweed processing, the use of renewable energy sources and the valorisation of biomass residues as fertilisers in a circular economy approach are proposed

Extraction of pigments from microalgae and cyanobacteria—A review on current methodologies

Pigments from microalgae and cyanobacteria have attracted great interest for industrial applications due to their bioactive potential and their natural product attributes. These pigments are usually sold as extracts, to overcome purification costs. The extraction of these compounds is based on cell disruption methodologies and chemical solubility of compounds. Different cell disruption methodologies have been used for pigment extraction, such as sonication, homogenization, high-pressure, CO2 supercritical fluid extraction, enzymatic extraction, and some other promising extraction methodologies such as ohmic heating and electric pulse technologies. The biggest constrain on pigment bioprocessing comes from the installation and operation costs; thus, fundamental and applied research are still needed to overcome such constrains and give the microalgae and cyanobacteria industry an opportunity in the world market. In this review, the main extraction methodologies will be discussed, taking into account the advantages and disadvantages for each kind of pigment, type of organism, cost, and final market.This work was co-supported by a PhD fellowship granted to author F.P. [SFRH/BD/136767/2018] funded by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) under the auspices of Operational Program Human Capital (POCH), supported by the European Social Fund and Portuguese funds (MECTES); as well as by the national funds through FCT within the scope of UIDB/04423/2020, UIDP/04423/2020 and UIDB/04469/2020

Potential of Microalgae Extracts for Food and Feed Supplementation—A Promising Source of Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Compounds

Microalgae are known producers of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds, making them natural alternatives to be used as food and feed functional ingredients. This study aimed to valorise biomass and exploit new applications and commercial value for four commercially available microalgae: Isochrysis galbana, Nannochloropsis sp., Tetraselmis sp., and Phaeodactylum tricornutum. For that, five extracts were obtained: acetone (A), ethanol (E), water (W), ethanol:water (EW). The antioxidant capacity (ABTS•+/DPPH•/•NO/O2•−/ORAC-FL) and anti-inflammatory capacity (HBRC/COX-2) of the extracts were screened. The general biochemical composition (carbohydrates, soluble proteins, and lipids) and the main groups of bioactive compounds (carotenoids, phenolic compounds, and peptides) of extracts were quantified. The results of antioxidant assays revealed the potential of some microalgae extracts: in ABTS•+, Nannochloropsis sp. E and Tetraselmis sp. A, E, and P; in DPPH•, Tetraselmis sp. A and E; in •NO, P. tricornutum E and EW; in O2•−, Tetraselmis sp. W; and in ORAC-FL, I. galbana EW and P. tricornutum EW. Concerning anti-inflammatory capacity, P. tricornutum EW and Tetraselmis sp. W showed a promising HBRC protective effect and COX-2 inhibition. Hence, Tetraselmis sp. and P. tricornutum extracts seem to have potential to be incorporated as feed and food functional ingredients and preservatives