Commercial and industrial applications of micro algae - A review

Microalgae are microscopic photosynthetic organisms that are found in both marine and freshwater environments. Microalgae find uses as food and as live feed in aquaculture for production of bivalve molluscs, for juvenile stages of abalone, crustaceans and some fish species and for zooplankton used in aquaculture food chains. Therapeutic supplements from micro-algae comprise an important market in which compounds such as β-carotene, astaxanthin, polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) such as DHA and EPA and polysaccharides such as β-glucan dominate The dominating species of microalgae in commercial production includes Isochrysis, Chaetoceros, Chlorella, Arthrospira (Spirulina) and Dunaliella. In the present review…