| dc.description.abstract | There is a worldwide consensus in the food industry that aims to replace synthetic
ingredients with natural ingredients for health promotion. At the same time, the
industrial relevance of microalgae as sources of an extensive spectrum of bioproducts
and as promising raw materials for the production of natural additives is constantly
growing. The interest is fundamentally justified in the chemical composition of biomass,
such as carotenoids and limonene, due to their bioactive activities with beneficial
effects on health. Since these metabolites have an excellent perspective for industrial
growth and development, production with greater potential is sought through optimized
cultivation systems and conditions, with the subsequent challenge being the
development of bioprocesses that link scientific results to commercial needs. In this
context, this study aimed to evaluate the profile of carotenoids produced by the
microalgae Desertifilum spp. in phototrophic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic cultivation,
and to investigate the formation of the volatile compound limonene, derived from the
microalgae Desertifilum spp., Chlorella sorokiniana, Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus
bijuga, Scenedesmus obliquus and Spirulina sp., and its aroma properties. Through
the study, it was found that the microalgae Desertifilum spp. exhibits a strong potential
for the production of carotenoids, with the majority being the forms of all-trans-β-
carotene, all-trans-zeaxanthin and all-trans-equinenone, respectively. In this sense,
the mixotrophic cultivation showed better quantitative results when compared to the
photoautotrophic and heterotrophic cultivation. At the same time, the presence of the
bioactive compound limonene was identified in the volatile fraction of the six
microalgae, contributing positively to the citrus and mint aroma, with the microalgae
Scenedesmus bijuga being the one with the greatest quantitative potential. Thus, the
study made it possible to demonstrate that microalgae are sources of non-volatile
(carotenoids) and volatile (limonene) bioproducts, compounds that, according to the
literature, have important bioactive and/or nutraceutical properties, whose economic
importance is associated with a wide range applications in the food and biomedical
industries. Additionally, the book chapter “Recent advances in the bioaccessibility and
bioavailability of algal bioactive compounds” (Chapter 4) will be published as
complementary research to this work. | |
