New Insight in Microalgae Cultivation and Downstream Processes: Route toward Sustainable and Cost-Effective Production

Dear Colleagues,

Microalgae and cyanobacteria represent high taxonomic diversity, making them very attractive to produce valuable and diverse biomolecules (such as pigments, proteins, enzymes, biofuels, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and hydrocolloids). Research on microalgae has been abundantly published and patented in recent years, but the development and commercialization of these metabolites is still new and only niche markets are currently available for microalgae products. Their low usage may be easily explained by the costs involved in microalgae production, linked to photoproduction, the harvest of microalgae in diluted media, the recycling of culture media, and the difficulty in refining this biomass. Much effort has been made by research groups and companies to improve these processes, which currently limit microalgae compound applications to the field of high value products. Some studies have been focused on the increase of biomass and bioproducts productivities (new culture system designs, culture strategies, selection of strains, etc.), the use of wastewater to reduce medium costs, and downstream processes (harvesting, fractionation, biorefinery, etc.), in order to achieve more sustainable and cost-effective production of biomass and bioproducts. The aim of this Special Issue, therefore, is to provide recent reviews and original research articles highlighting the innovations and dynamism of the research in the field of microalgae cultivation and downstream processes.

I look forward to receiving your submissions for this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Céline Laroche
Guest Editor

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