Exploring the Valuable Carotenoids for the Large-Scale Production by Marine Microorganisms

Marine Drugs

Carlos Vílchez¹  Inés Garbayo¹  Zaida Montero¹  JuanLuis Fuentes¹  Javier Torregrosa-Crespo²  RosaMaría Martínez-Espinosa²  Manuel Reig García-Galbis³ 

[1] Algal Biotechnology Group, University of Huelva, CIDERTA and Faculty of Science, Marine International Campus of Excellence (CEIMAR), Parque Huelva Empresarial S/N, 21007 Huelva, Spain;Department of Agrochemistry and Biochemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology division, Faculty of Science, University of Alicante, Ap. 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain;Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Atacama, Copayapu 2862, CP 1530000 Copiapó, Chile;

关键词: carotenoids;    antioxidants;    bioactive compounds;    blue biotechnology;    marine microorganisms;   

DOI  :  10.3390/md16060203

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Carotenoids are among the most abundant natural pigments available in nature. These pigments have received considerable attention because of their biotechnological applications and, more importantly, due to their potential beneficial uses in human healthcare, food processing, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. These bioactive compounds are in high demand throughout the world; Europe and the USA are the markets where the demand for carotenoids is the highest. The in vitro synthesis of carotenoids has sustained their large-scale production so far. However, the emerging modern standards for a healthy lifestyle and environment-friendly practices have given rise to a search for natural biocompounds as alternatives to synthetic ones. Therefore, nowadays, biomass (vegetables, fruits, yeast and microorganisms) is being used to obtain naturally-available carotenoids with high antioxidant capacity and strong color, on a large scale. This is an alternative to the in vitro synthesis of carotenoids, which is expensive and generates a large number of residues, and the compounds synthesized are sometimes not active biologically. In this context, marine biomass has recently emerged as a natural source for both common and uncommon valuable carotenoids. Besides, the cultivation of marine microorganisms, as well as the downstream processes, which are used to isolate the carotenoids from these microorganisms, offer several advantages over the other approaches that have been explored previously. This review summarizes the general properties of the most-abundant carotenoids produced by marine microorganisms, focusing on the genuine/rare carotenoids that exhibit interesting features useful for potential applications in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and medicine.

【 授权许可】

Unknown