Microalgae: Good news for nutraceutical and cosmetic industries March 8, 2019

The VOPSA 2.0 project funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 under the SME Instrument, has created an eco-innovative and sustainable industrial process for extracting Omega-3 and Astaxanthin from marine microalgae.

Omega-3 fatty acids are a class of unsaturated essential oils that have been traditionally found in fish and are important for human cardiovascular health as well as for the nervous and visual systems. Astaxanthin is a naturally occurring carotenoid pigment found in microalgae, it is also an important antioxidant for human health. Large quantities of both compounds need to be produced in order to meet increasing demand, particularly in the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, so the VOPSA 2.0 project set out to meet this demand.

Traditional methods of obtaining Omega-3 oils from fish species is energy intensive, uses organic solvents and is not sustainable due to overexploitation of fish resources. However, fish don’t naturally generate the fatty acids, they accrue them from feeding on microalgae. Hence VOPSA 2.0 researchers are now extracting the Omega-3 oils directly from their primary source which is microalgae. At a very high temperature they inject carbon dioxide into the microalgae membrane, acquire a solution containing the carbon dioxide and microalgal oils which can then be separated with no need for chemical solvents.

However, the conditions to grow microalgae are very important and the VOPSA 2.0 researchers have established how to best do this. Successful growth of microalgae requires three factors: constant light (artificial or natural), stable temperature (15-20°C) and constant agitation. The VOPSA 2.0 project involves two companies, Neoalgae and Bicosome and is based in Gijón, Spain.

For more information and a list of microalgae producers, read the full article here

Visit the VOPSA 2.0 project website: http://www.vopsaproject.eu