Microalgae Fermentation Services

BOC Sciences is a world-leading fermentation CDMO offering a full range of microbial fermentation services. Microorganisms can be used as cell factories to support valuable products with advanced pharmacological and biological properties. The host cells we use for fermentation manufacturing extensively cover microalgae, which can serve as a rich source of carbon compounds and produce value-added biological products in a heterotrophic manner.

With expertise in microalgae culture, BOC Sciences has developed and optimized the microalgae fermentation processes. We support customized fermentation products according to our customers' needs and are able to provide satisfactory services that fulfill all stages of project development.

Introduction

Algae refer to a diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms, from unicellular microalgae (such as Chlorella, Prototheca, and diatoms) to multicellular forms. Microalgae are considered photosynthetic microorganisms with tiny single cells, generally eukaryotic, except prokaryotic cyanobacteria. However, certain microalgae can also ferment in the dark, and the growth of these microalgae relies on sugar to support high-value products that have proven to be commercially successful.

Development and optimization of microalgae fermentation processes are similar to traditional fermentation processes using yeast or bacteria but with certain unique aspects. Besides selecting a major carbon source, the nitrogen source, the nutrient addition strategy, the number of trace metals and vitamins also needs to be optimized to achieve high productivity. Moreover, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen levels also need to be optimized and well-controlled during the complete fermentation process to maximize biomass production.

Advantages of Microalgae Fermentation

• Culture: Microalgae can grow on inexpensive media components and, in particular, on low-cost carbon sources. Algae are photosynthetic organisms that grow in various aquatic habitats, including oceans, lakes, rivers, and even wastewater. They are tolerated to a wide range of pH, temperatures, salinities, and light intensities. Waterwaste is one good source for microalgae fermentation that fulfilling the required nutrients.
• Production: Microalgae can produce a high level of target products and can be potentially used as a future source of renewable bioproducts. Microalgae produce a wide range of bioproducts, including polysaccharides, lipids, pigments, enzymes, proteins, vitamins, peptides, carotenoids, and antioxidants.

Applications of Microalgae Fermentation

Over the last few decades, the applications of microalgae fermentation have expanded in the food and feed, biofuels, biopharmaceuticals, and cosmetics fields. Microalgae produces a wide range of commercially important and valuable products, including vitamins, polysaccharides, carotenoids, astaxanthin, sterols, fatty acids, etc. Microalgae are among the richest and most economical sources of natural compounds with strong antioxidant effects, and natural products in algal extracts are used in cosmetics and medicinal products. What's more, eukaryotic microalgae can be used as bioreactors to produce recombinant pharmaceutical proteins due to simple growth requirements, ease of manipulation, and high growth rates.

Project Workflow

• Customer advisory
• Project discussion
• Microalgae served as host
• Strain improvement and fermentation development
• Novel strain evaluation
• Project delivery

References

1. Khan, M. I., Shin, J. H., and Kim, J. D., The promising future of microalgae: current status, challenges, and optimization of a sustainable and renewable industry for biofuels, feed, and other products, Microb. Cell Factories, 2018, 17, 36.
2. W., Barclay, W., Apt, K., and Dong, X. D., Commercial Production of Microalgae via Fermentation, Handbook of Microalgal Culture (Applied Phycology and Biotechnology), 2013.