Microalgae harvesting for wastewater treatment and resources recovery: A review.

Microalgae-based wastewater treatment has been conceived to obtain reclaimed water and produce microalgal biomass for bio-based products and biofuels generation. However, microalgal biomass harvesting is challenging and expensive, hence one of the main bottlenecks for full-scale implementation. Finding an integrated approach that covers concepts of engineering, green chemistry and the application of microbial anabolism driven towards the harvesting processes, is mandatory for the widespread establishment of full-scale microalgae wastewater treatment plants.

Enhancing sustainability through microalgae cultivation in urban wastewater for biostimulant production and nutrient recovery.

Microalgae can produce biostimulants in form of phytohormones, which are compounds that, even if applied in low concentrations, can have stimulant effects on plants growth and can enhance their quality and their resistance to stress. Considering that microalgal biomass can grow recovering nutrients from wastewater, this circular approach allows to use residues for the production of high added value compounds (such as phytohormones) at low cost. The interest on biostimulants production from microalgae have recently raised.

Isolation and Characterization of Novel Chlorella Vulgaris Mutants With Low Chlorophyll and Improved Protein Contents for Food Applications.

Microalgae are widely used as food supplements due to their high protein content, essential fatty acids and amino acids as well as carotenoids. The addition of microalgal biomass to food products (e.g.

Biological CO mitigation by microalgae: technological trends, future prospects and challenges.

The increase in the CO concentration in the Earth's atmosphere has been a topic of worldwide concern since anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases began increasing considerably during the industrial period. The effects of these mass emissions are probably the main cause of global warming, which has been observed over recent decades. Among the various techniques of CO capture, microalgal biofixation by photosynthesis is considered a promising technology due to the efficiency of these microorganisms in converting this gas into organic compounds through its use as a nutrient in the culture medium.

Outdoor pilot-scale cultivation of Spirulina sp. LEB-18 in different geographic locations for evaluating its growth and chemical composition.

This study evaluated whether outdoor cultivation of Spirulina sp. in different geographical locations affected its growth and biomass quality, with respect to the chemical composition, volatile compound and heavy metal content, and thermal stability. The positive effect of solar radiation and temperature on biomass productivity in Spirulina sp.

Cultivation of different microalgae with pentose as carbon source and the effects on the carbohydrate content.

In the search for alternative carbon sources for microalgae cultivation, pentoses can be considered interesting alternatives since the most abundant global source of renewable biomass is lignocellulosic waste, which contains significant quantities of pentoses. However, the use of pentoses (C5) in the cultivation of microalgae is still not widely studied and only recently the first metabolic pathway for pentose absorption in microalgae was proposed. So, the objective of this work was to evaluate if the use of pentoses affects the growth and carbohydrates content of Chlorella minutissima, Chlorella vulgaris, Chlorella homosphaera and Dunaliella salina.

Biological CO mitigation from coal power plant by Chlorella fusca and Spirulina sp.

CO biofixation by microalgae and cyanobacteria is an environmentally sustainable way to mitigate coal burn gas emissions. In this work the microalga Chlorella fusca LEB 111 and the cyanobacteria Spirulina sp. LEB 18 were cultivated using CO from coal flue gas as a carbon source.

Nanoencapsulation of the Bioactive Compounds of Spirulina with a Microalgal Biopolymer Coating.

Microalgae have been studied in biotechnological processes due to the various biocompounds that can be obtained from their biomasses, including pigments, proteins, antioxidants, biopeptides, fatty acids and biopolymers. Microalgae biopolymers are biodegradable materials that present similar characteristics to traditional polymers, with the advantage of being rapidly degraded when discarded. In addition, nanoencapsulation is capable of increasing the availability of bioactive compounds by allowing the release of these biocompounds to occur slowly over time.

Biologically Active Metabolites Synthesized by Microalgae.

Microalgae are microorganisms that have different morphological, physiological, and genetic traits that confer the ability to produce different biologically active metabolites. Microalgal biotechnology has become a subject of study for various fields, due to the varied bioproducts that can be obtained from these microorganisms. When microalgal cultivation processes are better understood, microalgae can become an environmentally friendly and economically viable source of compounds of interest, because production can be optimized in a controlled culture.

Biological effects of Spirulina (Arthrospira) biopolymers and biomass in the development of nanostructured scaffolds.

Spirulina is produced from pure cultures of the photosynthetic prokaryotic cyanobacteria Arthrospira. For many years research centers throughout the world have studied its application in various scientific fields, especially in foods and medicine. The biomass produced from Spirulina cultivation contains a variety of biocompounds, including biopeptides, biopolymers, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, minerals, oligoelements, and sterols.