Impact of Nannochloropsis sp. dosage form on the oxidative stability of n-3 LC-PUFA enriched tomato purees.

Microalgae are a sustainable alternative source of n-3 LC-PUFA that can be incorporated into the food chain either via the incorporation of the (intact or disrupted) biomass or by the incorporation of the oil extracted from the biomass. However, the impact of the dosage form on the enrichment of food products with n-3 LC-PUFA and their oxidative stability has never been described before. This study aims to contribute more insight on the impact of the dosage form of the photoautotrophic microalga Nannochloropsis in enriched tomato puree. Three different dosage forms of Nannochloropsis were compared to commercial fish oil and analyzed for their amount of n-3 LC-PUFA, lipid oxidation products, antioxidants and free fatty acids. Tomato purees supplemented with dosage forms derived from Nannochloropsis showed higher oxidative stability than those supplemented with commercial fish oil. The highest oxidative stability was observed for purees supplemented with Nannochloropsis biomass irrespective of whether it was pre-disrupted.

Impact of processing on n-3 LC-PUFA in model systems enriched with microalgae.

Microalgae have already shown their potential as an alternative source of n-3 LC-PUFA. In this study, 5 different microalgal species (Isochrysis, Nannochloropsis, Phaeodactylum, Porphyridium and Schizochytrium) were added to an acidic model system and screened on their potential use in acidic food matrices. The impact of mechanical and thermal processing on the model systems was studied by analyzing the amount of n-3 LC-PUFA, free fatty acids, carotenoids, lipid polymers and the oxidative stability. A (limited) reduction of n-3 LC-PUFA was observed. Thermal alterations combined with the presence of free fatty acids seemed to be the causing factor for this decrease. Furthermore, the oxidative stability of model systems enriched with photoautotrophic microalgae was significantly higher than of those enriched with heterotrophic microalgae. It can therefore be concluded that photoautotrophic microalgae low in initial free fatty acid content are a promising source of n-3 LC-PUFA in thermally processed acidic food systems.

Deodorization of Arthrospira platensis biomass for further scale-up food applications.

BACKGROUND: Given the importance of A. platensis as a potential food protein source, we describe an affordable deodorization process that does not significantly affect the nutritional value of algae biomass. RESULTS: Ethanol, acetone or hexane were used to deodorize algae biomass and then to identify the profile of volatile compounds associated with its distinctive odor. Sensorial characteristics were improved in the biomass cake after the proposed solvent extraction. Panelists identified the ethanolic extract with the most pronounced algae-related odor. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis showed that a mixture of 20 different compounds derived from fatty acids and amino acids contributed to the characteristic smell of A. platensis biomass. The results of the present study show that the ethanol solvent-free A. platensis biomass contained > 600 g kg-1 protein, < 10 g kg-1 crude fat and > 65% in vitro protein digestibility, similar to the original biomass. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy secondary protein structure was comparable among samples, indicating that the only change after ethanol extraction was a reduction of the algae smell. CONCLUSION: The various extraction procedures investigated in the present study were effective in deodorizing the algae biomass. The most effective protocol was the removal of odoriferous compounds with ethanol. This particular procedure yielded an algae biomass with an improved sensorial traits. The results of the present study should help with the identification of odoriferous compounds derived from fatty acids, pigments and proteins associated with A. platensis. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Optimization of a Nile Red method for rapid lipid determination in autotrophic, marine microalgae is species dependent.

Several studies have been conducted to develop rapid methods for quantification of lipid content in microalgae, as an alternative for time consuming gravimetric methods. Different studies showed that lipid staining with Nile Red in whole cell suspensions and subsequently quantification by the use of a spectrofluorometric device is a promising method, but a profound optimization and validation is rare. It has already been proven that the correlation curve for quantification is species dependent, but it has not yet been investigated whether this is also the case for the optimization of the Nile Red assay protocol. Therefore, two autotrophic, marine microalgae, Nannochloropsis oculata and T-Isochrysis lutea, strongly differing in e.g. cell wall structure, were selected in this study to investigate whether optimization of the Nile Red assay is species dependent. Besides this, it was checked for one of these species, Nannochloropsis, whether the lipid content, determined by the Nile Red assay, could indeed be correlated with the neutral and/or total lipid content determined by gravimetric methods. It was found that optimization of the Nile Red assay was strongly species dependent. Consequently, optimization has to be done for each species before using the assay. For Nannochloropsis, a good correlation was found between total and neutral lipid content obtained by the Nile Red assay and by gravimetric methods.

Nutritional evaluation of microalgae oils rich in omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids as an alternative for fish oil.

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the nutritional value of the total lipid extract of different omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids producing photoautotrophic microalgae in one study. It was shown that microalgae oils from Isochrysis, Nannochloropsis, Phaeodactylum, Pavlova and Thalassiosira contain sufficient omega-3 LC-PUFA to serve as an alternative for fish oil, which was used as the 'golden standard'. In the microalgae oils an important part of the omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are present in the polar lipid fraction, which may be favourable from a bioavailability and stability viewpoint. Consumption of microalgae oil ensures intake of sterols and carotenoids. The intake of sterols, including cholesterol and phytosterols, is probably not relevant. The intake of carotenoids is however definitely significant and could give the microalgae oils a nutritional added value compared to fish oil.

Detection of flavonoids in microalgae from different evolutionary lineages.

Flavonoids are important secondary plant metabolites believed to be present mainly in land plants. As phenolics were detected previously in microalgae using photometric assays, we wanted to investigate the nature of these phenolics and verify whether flavonoids are present. Therefore, in this study, we used state-of-the-art ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-two-dimensional mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) technology to investigate whether microalgae also contain flavonoids. For this, representative microalgal biomass samples from divergent evolutionary lineages (Cyanobacteria, Rhodophyta, Chlorophyta, Haptophyta, Ochrophyta) were screened for a set of carefully selected precursors, intermediates, and end products of the flavonoid biosynthesis pathways. Our data unequivocally showed that microalgae contain a wide range of flavonoids and thus must possess the enzyme pool required for their biosynthesis. Further, some of the microalgae displayed an intricate flavonoid pattern that is compatible with the established basic flavonoid pathway as observed in higher plants. This implies that the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway arose much earlier in evolution compared to what is generally accepted.

Evaluation of the volatile composition and sensory properties of five species of microalgae.

Due to their high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, and proteins, microalgae hold a lot of potential for nutritional applications. When microalgae are integrated into foodstuffs, the aroma is an important aspect to consider. In this study the aroma properties of microalgae were studied by correlating data on the volatile composition with sensory evaluations. Four species of marine microalgae ( Botryococcus braunii, , Rhodomonas , Tetraselmis species, and Nannochloropsis oculata ) and one fresh water microalga ( Chlorella vulgaris ) were investigated. Multivariate data processing revealed that microalgal samples having a seafood-like odor character contain high levels of sulfuric compounds (dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, and methional), diketones, α-ionone, and ß-ionone. Fresh green, fruity flavors were linked with typical aldehydes such as 2,4-alkadienals and 2,4,6-alkatrienals. The presence of these compounds in fresh microalga pastes is explained by aroma formation mechanisms such as enzymatic lipid oxidation, enzymatic and chemical degradation of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (generating dimethyl sulfide), phenylalanine (generating benzaldehyde), and carotenoids (generating ionones).

Stability of omega-3 LC-PUFA-rich photoautotrophic microalgal oils compared to commercially available omega-3 LC-PUFA oils.

Microalgae are the primary producers of omega-3 LC-PUFA, which are known for their health benefits. Their oil may thus be a potential alternative for fish oil. However, oxidative and hydrolytic stability of omega-3 LC-PUFA oils are important parameters. The purpose of this work was therefore to evaluate these parameters in oils from photoautotrophic microalgae (Isochrysis, Phaeodactylum, Nannochloropsis gaditana, and Nannochloropsis sp.) obtained with hexane/isopropanol (HI) and hexane (H) and compare them with commercial omega-3 LC-PUFA oils. When the results of both the primary and secondary oxidation parameters were put together, it was clear that fish, tuna, and heterotrophic microalgae oil are the least oxidatively stable oils, whereas krill oil and the microalgae oils performed better. The microalgal HI oils were shown to be more oxidatively stable than the microalgal H oils. The hydrolytic stability was shown not to be a problem during the storage of any of the oils.

Benchmark study on algae harvesting with backwashable submerged flat panel membranes.

The feasibility of algae harvesting with submerged flat panel membranes was investigated as pre-concentration step prior to centrifugation. Polishing of the supernatant coming from the centrifuge was evaluated as well. The effect of membrane polymer (polyvinyl chloride [PVC], polyethersulfone polyvinyl-pyrollidone [PES-PVP], poly vinylidene fluoride [PVDF]), pore size (microfiltration [MF], ultrafiltration [UF]), algae cell concentrations and species were investigated at lab-scale. In addition, backwashing as fouling control was compared to standard relaxation. PVDF was the superior polymer, and UF showed better fouling resistance. Backwashing outperformed relaxation in fouling control. The backwashable membranes allowed up to 300% higher fluxes compared to commercial flat panel benchmark (PVC) membranes. Estimations on energy consumption for membrane filtration followed by centrifugation revealed relatively low values of 0.169 kW h/kg of dry weight of algae compared to 0.5 kW h/kg for algae harvesting via classical centrifuge alone.

Rapid screening and guided extraction of antioxidants from microalgae using voltammetric methods.

Currently, microalgae draw much attention as a promising source of natural antioxidants to replace synthetic antioxidants for food applications. In this paper, the use of voltammetric techniques as a fast alternative for chemical assays to determine the antioxidant power of microalgal biomass is discussed. It was found that antioxidant activities determined by square wave voltammetry correlate well with the results from other established antioxidant assays, such as Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (R(2) = 0.737), ferric reducing antioxidant potential (R(2) = 0.729), and AAPH-induced oxidation of linoleic acid (R(2) = 0.566). Besides yielding quantitative data on the antioxidant activity, square wave voltammetry provides additional information on the antioxidant profile of microalgal biomass as the peak potentials of antioxidant components are determined. Consequently, square wave voltammetry can be used as a tool for optimizing the extraction processes to recover antioxidant components from microalgae.

Evaluation of electro-coagulation-flocculation for harvesting marine and freshwater microalgae.

Although microalgae are considered as a promising feedstock for biofuels, the energy efficiency of the production process needs to be significantly improved. Due to their small size and low concentration in the culture medium, cost-efficient harvesting of microalgae is a major challenge. In this study, the use of electro-coagulation-flocculation (ECF) as a method for harvesting a freshwater (Chlorella vulgaris) and a marine (Phaeodactylum tricornutum) microalgal species is evaluated. ECF was shown to be more efficient using an aluminum anode than using an iron anode. Furthermore, it could be concluded that the efficiency of the ECF process can be substantially improved by reducing the initial pH and by increasing the turbulence in the microalgal suspension. Although higher current densities resulted in a more rapid flocculation of the microalgal suspension, power consumption, expressed per kg of microalgae harvested, and release of aluminum were lower when a lower current density was used. The aluminum content of the harvested microalgal biomass was less than 1% while the aluminum concentration in the process water was below 2 mg L(-1). Under optimal conditions, power consumption of the ECF process was around 2 kWh kg(-1) of microalgal biomass harvested for Chlorella vulgaris and ca. 0.3 kWh kg(-1) for Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Compared to centrifugation, ECF is thus more energy efficient. Because of the lower power consumption of ECF in seawater, ECF is a particularly attractive method for harvesting marine microalgae.