Phototrophic algae have been studied, with respect to their potential to produce several very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFAs), predominantly EPAand ARA. Th e major producers of EPA are the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum(Yongmanitchai & Ward, 1992; Molina Grima et al., 1999), the red alga Porphyridiumcruentum (Cohen et al., 1988), and the eustigmatophytes Nannochloropsis sp. (Setoet al., 1984; Sukenik, 1999) and Monodus subterraneus (Cohen, 1994). The red algamentioned here was, until recently, the only algal source of ARA (Cohen, 1990).The major impedance preventing the use of microalgae as a source of VLC-PUFAsis the relatively high cost of producing biomass from these microorganisms. Subsequently, little eff ort has been dedicated to the development of downstream processesfor algal SCOs in comparison to alternative sources. Novel panel photobioreactors,currently being tested, are expected to signifi cantly reduce the cost of production.Under stress conditions (e.g., nitrogen starvation), many microalgae can beinduced to accumulate large amounts of oil. However, the accumulated TAGs aremostly constructed of saturated and monounsaturated, with few, if any, PUFAs. Whenpresent, PUFAs are predominantly located in the polar membranal lipids (Cohen,1999). Unfortunately, the content of membrane lipids and, consequently, their fattyacid components, are inherently limited. One of the limitations of fi sh oils as a sourceof single PUFAs is the co-occurrence of several PUFAs in the oil, requiring expensive
HPLC separations. Th e same restriction applies to algal oils. Preparative HPLC, however, is the single most expensive component in producing the fi nal product, affecting
the cost of the purifi ed product much more than the cost of producing the oil extract
itself (Molina Grima et al., 1996).
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