Engineering microalgae as the next-generation food

Abstract

Globally, microalgae are gaining attention due to their high nutritional value and broad application in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, food, cosmetics, bio-fertilizer, and biofuel industries. Microalgal-based foods have been shown a positive impact on human health by acting as antioxidants, antimicrobials, anti-inflammatory agents, and antiviral agents. Scale-up, production cost, and safety issues are the significant challenges in microalgae product commercialization. However, various techniques have been developed to overcome these challenges and to produce microalgae bio-products in a high amount and make them safe for human and animals use. Recently, multiple techniques such as metabolic and genetic engineering have emerged to overcome these limitations. The present review focused on the application of these engineering tools to improve biomass yield and nutrient quality in microalgae. However, these tools are proved to be very effective in enhancing the nutrients in microalgae. Limited success has been achieved to improve the quality at the industrial level.