Carotenoids of Microalgae Used in Food Industry and Medicine

Background: Since the industrial revolution, the consumption of processed food increased dramatically. During processing, food material loses many of its natural properties. Objective: The simple restoration of the original properties of the processed food as well as fortification require food supplementation with compounds prepared chemically or of natural origin. The observations that natural food additives are safer and better accepted by consumers than synthetic ones have strongly increased the demand for natural compounds. Because some of them have only a low abundance or are even rare, their market price can be very high. This is the case for most carotenoids of natural origin to which this review is dedicated. The increasing demand for food additives of natural origin contributes to an accelerated depletion of traditional natural resources already threatened by intensive agriculture and pollution. To overcome these difficulties and satisfy the demand, alternative sources for natural carotenoids have to be found. In this context, photosynthetic microalgae present a very high potential because they contain carotenoids and are able to produce particular carotenoids under stress. Their potential also resides in the fact that only ten thousands of microalgal strains have been described while hundred thousands of species are predicted to exist. Carotenoids have been known for ages for their antioxidant and coloring properties, and a large body of evidence has been accumulated about their health potential. Conclusion: This review summarizes both the medicinal and food industry applications of microalgae with emphasis on the former. In addition, traditional and alternative microalgal sources used for industrial carotenoid extraction, the chemical and physical properties, the biosynthesis and the localization of carotenoids in algae are also briefly discussed.