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Review
. 2023 Mar 31:11:1146881.
doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1146881. eCollection 2023.

Microalgal polyunsaturated fatty acids: Hotspots and production techniques

Weixian Chen  1 , Tianpei Li  1 , Shuwen Du  2 , Hui Chen  1 , Qiang Wang  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Microalgal polyunsaturated fatty acids: Hotspots and production techniques

Weixian Chen et al. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. .

Abstract

Algae play a crucial role in the earth's primary productivity by producing not only oxygen but also a variety of high-value nutrients. One such nutrient is polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are accumulated in many algae and can be consumed by animals through the food chain and eventually by humans. Omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs are essential nutrients for human and animal health. However, compared with plants and aquatic sourced PUFA, the production of PUFA-rich oil from microalgae is still in the early stages of exploration. This study has collected recent reports on algae-based PUFA production and analyzed related research hotspots and directions, including algae cultivation, lipids extraction, lipids purification, and PUFA enrichment processes. The entire technological process for the extraction, purification and enrichment of PUFA oils from algae is systemically summarized in this review, providing important guidance and technical reference for scientific research and industrialization of algae-based PUFA production.

Keywords: PUFA; algae; enrichment; extraction; omega-fatty acids; research hotspots.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The number of algae-PUFA-related research reports in recent years in the web of science.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The most popular keywords in the articles of algae-PUFA in the Web of Science Core Collection.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Occurrence of the main keywords in the reports of algae-PUFA according to the species (A), health functions (B), conditions (C), kinds of PUFAs (D), other high value products (E).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
The general pathways of PUFAs synthesis. Desaturase: Δ4/Δ5/Δ6/Δ9/Δ15/Δ17; C18/20/22, carbon numbers; :1/:2/…/:6, number of olefinic bonds; (n-3/6/9), double bond between the (n–x) and (n-x+1) to last carbon atoms; −3/6/9/12/15/18, double bond between the x and x+1 to last carbon atoms. AdA, adrenic acid; ALA, α-linolenic acid; ARA, arachidonic acid; DGLA, dihomo-γ-linolenic acid; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; DPA, osbond acid; DPA, Docosapentaenoic acid; EDA, eicosadienoic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; ETA, eicosatrienoic acid; ETE, eicosatetraenoic acid; GLA, γ-linolenic acid; LA, linoleic acid; OA, oleic acid; SDA, stearidonic acid; THA, tetracosahexanoic acid; TPA, tetracosapentanoic acid.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
The main production process of high-purity PUFAs.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
The melting points of some free fatty acids.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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