Spolaore Pauline, Joannis-Cassan Claire, Duran Elie, Isambert Arsène
Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux, Ecole Centrale Paris, 92295 Châtenay-Malabry cedex, France.
J Biosci Bioeng. 2006 Feb;101(2):87-96. doi: 10.1263/jbb.101.87.
The first use of microalgae by humans dates back 2000 years to the Chinese, who used Nostoc to survive during famine. However, microalgal biotechnology only really began to develop in the middle of the last century. Nowadays, there are numerous commercial applications of microalgae. For example, (i) microalgae can be used to enhance the nutritional value of food and animal feed owing to their chemical composition, (ii) they play a crucial role in aquaculture and (iii) they can be incorporated into cosmetics. Moreover, they are cultivated as a source of highly valuable molecules. For example, polyunsaturated fatty acid oils are added to infant formulas and nutritional supplements and pigments are important as natural dyes. Stable isotope biochemicals help in structural determination and metabolic studies. Future research should focus on the improvement of production systems and the genetic modification of strains. Microalgal products would in that way become even more diversified and economically competitive.
人类首次使用微藻可追溯到2000年前的中国人，他们在饥荒时期利用念珠藻生存。然而，微藻生物技术真正开始发展是在上个世纪中叶。如今，微藻有许多商业应用。例如，（i）由于微藻的化学成分，它们可用于提高食品和动物饲料的营养价值，（ii）它们在水产养殖中起着至关重要的作用，（iii）它们可被纳入化妆品中。此外，它们被作为高价值分子的来源进行培养。例如，多不饱和脂肪酸油被添加到婴儿配方奶粉和营养补充剂中，色素作为天然染料很重要。稳定同位素生物化学物质有助于结构测定和代谢研究。未来的研究应集中在生产系统的改进和菌株的基因改造上。这样，微藻产品将变得更加多样化且在经济上更具竞争力。
