Industry chain and challenges of microalgal food industry-a review
Abstract
Currently, the whole world is facing hunger due to the increase in the global population and the rising level of food consumption. Unfortunately, the impact of environmental, climate, and political issues on agriculture has resulted in limited global food resources. Thus, it is important to develop new food sources that are environmentally friendly and not subject to climate or space limitations. Microalgae represent a potential source of nutrients and bioactive components for a wide range of high-value products. Advances in cultivation and genetic engineering techniques provide prospective approaches to widen their application for food. However, there are currently problems in the microalgae food industry in terms of assessing nutritional value, selecting processes for microalgae culture, obtaining suitable commercial strains of microalgae, etc. Additionally, the limitations of real data of market opportunities for microalgae make it difficult to assess their actual potential and to develop a better industrial chain. This review addresses the current status of the microalgae food industry, the process of commercializing microalgae food and breeding methods. Current research progress in addressing the limitations of microalgae industrialization and future prospects for developing microalgae food products are discussed.
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Microalgae's metabolic feature allows them to contribute simultaneously to pollutant removal and, in certain contexts, to alleviating the demand for arable land when compared with conventional agriculture, reinforcing their role as an ecologically viable resource.
“This metabolic feature allows microalgae to contribute simultaneously to pollutant removal and, in certain contexts, to alleviating the demand for arable land when compared with conventional agriculture, reinforcing their role as an ecologically viable resource (Abdelfattah et al., 2023; Diaz et al., 2023; Chen et al., 2024; Iñiguez-Moreno et al., 2025).”
From Microalgae biotechnology and its role in sustainable and healthy food design (2025) · cites this paper as Chen et al., 2024
The current microalgae food market is mainly divided into two categories: large-scale cultivation of microalgae to obtain biomass and high-value metabolites, and use of microalgae to develop new food resources including protein analogues.
“The current microalgae food market is mainly divided into two categories. One category involves the large-scale cultivation of microalgae to obtain biomass and highvalue metabolites and the other category involves the use of microalgae to develop new food resources, including protein analogues, mainly used in food development [81].”
From SPIRULINA (ARTHROSPIRA PLATENSIS): AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF NUTRIENTS - A REVIEW (2025) · cites this paper as [81]
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References 284 · Cited by 18
- Authors
- Chen, Y., Liang, H., Du, H., Jesumani, V., He, W., Cheong, K.-L., Li, T., & Hong, T.
- Affiliations
- Shantou University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Du, Hong
- Venue
- Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2022-11-15
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 14
- Pages
- 4789-4816
- ISSN
- 1040-8398 (ISSN-L)
- 1549-7852
- OpenAlex
- W4309095500
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 284
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3
- FWCI
- 0.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- the Program for University Innovation Team of Guangdong Province
- the Natural Science Foundation of China grants
- Innovation Project of Guangdong University under Grant
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Industry and Aquatic Biology
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
- Keywords
- microalgae, industrial chain, commercialization, microalgae cultivation, genetic engineering, nutritional value, bioactive compounds, food security, market potential
- MeSH terms
- Genetic Engineering, Humans, Nutritive Value, Food Industry, Microalgae
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