Microalgae are natural sources of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates, with diverse and complete nutritional profiles. They are also a source of vitamins, pigments, bioactive compounds and high-quality vegan protein with all the essential amino acids.
However, the sensory characteristics of the biomass, namely the green colour and grassy taste originated by chlorophyll, hinder consumers’ and even animals’ acceptance.
Currently, few strains of microalgae are approved in Europe as new foods.
To develop nutritious and appealing microalgae strains for food and feed, a collaboration was undertaken between researchers from a Portuguese industrial producer – Allmicroalgae Natural Products S.A. – and other research teams that included members from iBB-Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences and the i4HB Institute for Health and Bioeconomy.
Upon random mutagenesis, the metabolic inhibitor oxyfluorfen was tested for the first time as a selection strategy to isolate stable mutants of Scenedesmus rubescens and of Chlorella vulgaris which showed very significant decrease of total chlorophyll and high levels of protein content and were still able to maintain good biomass productivities in heterotrophic bioreactor culture.
Link to full paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221192642400184X?via%3Dihub
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