Valorization of Algal Biomass to Produce Microbial Polyhydroxyalkanoates: Recent Updates, Challenges, and Perspectives.

Biopolymers are highly desirable alternatives to petrochemical-based plastics owing to their biodegradable nature. The production of bioplastics, such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), has been widely reported using various bacterial cultures with substrates ranging from pure to biowaste-derived sugars. However, large-scale production and economic feasibility are major limiting factors. Now, using algal biomass for PHA production offers a potential solution to these challenges with a significant environmental benefit. Algae, with their unique ability to utilize carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas (GHG) and wastewater as feed for growth, can produce value-added products in the process and, thereby, play a crucial role in promoting environmental sustainability. The sugar recovery efficiency from algal biomass is highly variable depending on pretreatment procedures due to inherent compositional variability among their cell walls. Additionally, the yields, composition, and properties of synthesized PHA vary significantly among various microbial PHA producers from algal-derived sugars. Therefore, the microalgal biomass pretreatments and synthesis of PHA copolymers still require considerable investigation to develop an efficient commercial-scale process. This review provides an overview of the microbial potential for PHA production from algal biomass and discusses strategies to enhance PHA production and its properties, focusing on managing GHGs and promoting a sustainable future.

Quantum Yield and Fatty Acid Profile Variations With Nutritional Mode During Microalgae Cultivation.

Microalgae are gaining commercial interests in the areas food, feed and biofuel sector. They have intrinsic ability to harness energy from sunlight and photosynthetically valorize CO2 into various bio-based products viz., triacylglycerols (TAGs), mono/poly-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA, PUFA), pigments etc. Microalgae have adapted to grow in various nutritional environments due to their metabolic versatility and resilience. Strategic evaluation of newly isolated strain Chlorella sp. from a residential lake was performed. The strain was investigated by varying the nutritional modes to gain insights into biomass and fatty acids production. Maximum biomass (3.59 g/L) was observed in mixotrophic condition followed by heterotrophic (1.58 g/L) and autotrophic condition (0.59 g/L). The maximum lipid yield (670 mg/g DCW) was observed in mixotrophic condition whereas maximum total lipid content (36%) was observed in heterotrophic condition. Significant correlation was noticed between fluorescence parameters measured by OJIP and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) with the function of nutritional mode variations. Autotrophic condition showed higher photosynthetic activity which was well correlated with high fluorescence intensity as represented by OJIP, NPQ1, and NPQ2 curves. Good balance of saturated fatty acids (SFA) and unsaturated fatty acids was observed in autotrophic mode, whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and mono unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) content were relatively higher in mixotrophic and heterotrophic conditions.

Waste biorefinery models towards sustainable circular bioeconomy: Critical review and future perspectives.

Increased urbanization worldwide has resulted in a substantial increase in energy and material consumption as well as anthropogenic waste generation. The main source for our current needs is petroleum refinery, which have grave impact over energy-environment nexus. Therefore, production of bioenergy and biomaterials have significant potential to contribute and need to meet the ever increasing demand. In this perspective, a biorefinery concept visualizes negative-valued waste as a potential renewable feedstock. This review illustrates different bioprocess based technological models that will pave sustainable avenues for the development of biobased society. The proposed models hypothesize closed loop approach wherein waste is valorised through a cascade of various biotechnological processes addressing circular economy. Biorefinery offers a sustainable green option to utilize waste and to produce a gamut of marketable bioproducts and bioenergy on par to petro-chemical refinery.

Lipid metabolism in response to individual short chain fatty acids during mixotrophic mode of microalgal cultivation: Influence on biodiesel saturation and protein profile.

Critical influence of different short chain fatty acids as organic carbon source, during growth (GP) and nutrient stress lipogenic phase (NSLP) was investigated on biomass and lipid productivity, in mixotrophic fed-batch microalgae cultivation. Nutrient deprivation induced physiological stress stimulated highest lipid productivity with acetate (total/neutral lipids, 35/17) with saturation index of 80.53% by the end of NSLP followed by butyrate (12/7%; 78%). Biomass growth followed the order of acetate (2.23 g/l) >butyrate (0.99 g/l) >propionate (0.77 g/l). VFA removal (as COD) was maximum with acetate (87%) followed by butyrate (55.09%) and propionate (10.60%). Palmitic acid was the most dominant fatty acid found in the fatty acid composition of all variants and butyrate fed system yielded a maximum of 44% palmitic acid. Protein profiling illustrated prominence of acetyl CoA-synthetase activity in acetate system. Thus, fatty acids provide a promising alternative feedstock for biodiesel production with integrated microalgae-biorefinery.

Heterotrophic microalgae cultivation to synergize biodiesel production with waste remediation: progress and perspectives.

Microalgae are inexhaustible feedstock for synthesis of biodiesel rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and valuable bioactive compounds. Their cultivation is critical in sustaining the global economy in terms of human consumption of food and fuel. When compared to autotrophic cultivation, heterotrophic systems are more suitable for producing high cell densities of microalgae for accumulation of large quantities of lipids (triacylglycerols) which can be converted into biodiesel. Consorted efforts are made in this communication to converge recent literature on heterotrophic cultivation systems with simultaneous wastewater treatment and algal oil production. Challenges faced during large scale production and limiting factors which hinder the microalgae growth are enumerated. A strategic deployment of integrated closed loop biorefinery concept with multi-product recovery is proposed to exploit the full potential of algal systems. Sustainable algae cultivation is essential to produce biofuels leading to green future.

Temperature induced stress influence on biodiesel productivity during mixotrophic microalgae cultivation with wastewater.

The role of operating temperature as a physical stress factor for enhancing lipid induction during microalgae cultivation with domestic wastewater was evaluated. Experiments were designed with dual mode microalgae cultivation viz., growth phase (GP) and temperature induced stress phase (25 °C, 30 °C and 35 °C). GP showed enhancement in biomass growth and carbohydrate accumulation while stress phase (SP) operation at 30 °C showed noticeable improvement in lipid productivities (total/neutral lipid, 24.5/10.2%). Maximum carbohydrate utilization was observed during SP at 30 °C operation (57.8%) compared to 25 °C (50.6%) and 35 °C (26.9%) correlating well with the lipid synthesis. Interestingly the neutral lipid content documented five-fold increment illustrating feasibility towards good biodiesel properties. Biodiesel profile at 30 °C temperature is well supported by higher saturated fatty acids (SFA) to unsaturated fatty acids (USFA) ratio. GP operation showed good COD and nutrient removal concomitant to the biomass growth.

Regulatory function of organic carbon supplementation on biodiesel production during growth and nutrient stress phases of mixotrophic microalgae cultivation.

Critical role of organic carbon supplementation on the lipid synthesis during growth and nutrient deprived stress phase was investigated in present study. Mixotrophic cultivation showed relatively higher biomass productivity at lower carbon loading condition (500mgCOD/l). Nutrient deprivation induced physiological stress and glucose supplementation with 2000mgCOD/l supported higher lipid accumulation (26%). Glucose supplementation in mixotrophic growth phase showed distinct influence on biomass growth whereas glucose supplementation in nutrient starvation resulted in higher lipid storage. Compositional variation in FAME profile was observed with respect to saturated fatty acids when operated with increasing glucose concentrations. Mixotrophic mode of cultivation showed remarkable benefits of nutrient removal and organic carbon supplementation influenced greatly on biodiesel production which can be easily scaled up to pilot plant and large scale production facilities.