Microalgae : a promising bioresource for a sustainable future

Abstract

Microalgae are highly diverse unicellular photosynthetic organisms found in aquatic environments. Microalgae produce oxygen during their proliferation, contributing to nearly 50% of the total oxygen production in the world. Concurrently, microalgae consume carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, thereby serving as carbon sinks to alleviate the effects of global warming. In comparison to terrestrial plants, microalgae exhibit rapid growth rates, higher photosynthetic efficiency, shorter harvesting time and higher biomass productivities. Moreover, they do not require arable land or potable water to facilitate their growth, hence becoming a more sustainable feedstock as compared to conventional crops. Altogether, microalgae have been identified as a bioresource with great industrial potential due to their ability to accumulate commercially valuable metabolites that can be extracted and subsequently processed into diverse bioproducts such as biofuels, pharmaceuticals/nutraceuticals, biofertilizer and animal feed.