Industrial potential of carotenoid pigments from microalgae: Current trends and future prospects.

Microalgae are rich source of various bioactive molecules such as carotenoids, lipids, fatty acids, hydrocarbons, proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids, etc. and in recent Years carotenoids from algae gained commercial recognition in the global market for food and cosmeceutical applications. However, the production of carotenoids from algae is not yet fully cost effective to compete with synthetic ones.

Botryococcus as an alternative source of carotenoids and its possible applications - an overview.

The enhanced interest in carotenoid research arises partly because of their application in the food and health industries and partly because of the necessity to find a commercially viable natural source for their mass production. The bottlenecks in finding a natural source of carotenoids which can compete with the synthetic products is the mass production of the organism that produces carotenoids, cell harvesting and extraction methods of carotenoids. The microalga Botryococcus braunii is an interesting organism for its commercial value as a rich source of carotenoids.