Suzuki Kengo
Department of Research and Development, euglena Co., Ltd., 5-33-1 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-0014, Japan.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2017;979:285-293. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-54910-1_14.
From the middle of the twentieth century, microalgae have been exploited as a candidate biomass source of food and other products. One such candidate source is the fast-proliferating microalga Euglena gracilis. The commercial cultivation of E. gracilis began in 2007, after the success of its outdoor mass cultivation and improvement of the harvesting and drying methods suitable for Euglena cells. The commercialization of Euglena production is based on the strategy of "5Fs of Biomass," which refers to the development and production of commercial products including food, fiber, feed, fertilizer, and fuel from biomass." Although room for improvement remains in the productivity of Euglena biomass, the product with the highest value-food-is already profitable. By enhancing the productivity of its biomass, other Euglena products, including fiber, feed, fertilizer, and fuel, can be commercialized. Breeding and recombinant DNA technology studies are being conducted to accomplish more extensive application of Euglena. In addition, the search for a better place for outdoor mass cultivation of Euglena is ongoing.
从20世纪中叶起，微藻就被视作一种潜在的食物及其他产品的生物质来源。一种这样的潜在来源是快速增殖的微藻纤细裸藻。在室外大规模培养取得成功以及适合裸藻细胞的收获和干燥方法得到改进之后，纤细裸藻的商业化养殖于2007年开始。裸藻生产的商业化基于“生物质的5F”战略，该战略指的是从生物质开发和生产包括食品、纤维、饲料、肥料和燃料在内的商业产品。尽管裸藻生物质的生产力仍有提升空间，但价值最高的产品——食品——已经实现盈利。通过提高其生物质的生产力，其他裸藻产品，包括纤维、饲料、肥料和燃料，也能够实现商业化。目前正在开展育种和重组DNA技术研究，以实现裸藻更广泛的应用。此外，寻找更适合室外大规模养殖裸藻的场地的工作也在进行中。
