Wang Jing, Hu Xinge, Chen Junbin, Wang Tiannan, Huang Xianju, Chen Guoxun
College of Pharmacy, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan 430074, China.
Department of Nutrition, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
Foods. 2022 Feb 10;11(4):502. doi: 10.3390/foods11040502.
β-carotene, a member of the carotenoid family, is a provitamin A, and can be converted into vitamin A (retinol), which plays essential roles in the regulation of physiological functions in animal bodies. Microalgae synthesize a variety of carotenoids including β-carotene and are a rich source of natural β-carotene. This has attracted the attention of researchers in academia and the biotech industry. Methods to enrich or purify β-carotene from microalgae have been investigated, and experiments to understand the biological functions of microalgae products containing β-carotene have been conducted. To better understand the use of microalgae to produce β-carotene and other carotenoids, we have searched PubMed in August 2021 for the recent studies that are focused on microalgae carotenoid content, the extraction methods to produce β-carotene from microalgae, and the bioactivities of β-carotene from microalgae. Articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals were identified, screened, and summarized here. So far, various types and amounts of carotenoids have been identified and extracted in different types of microalgae. Diverse methods have been developed overtime to extract β-carotene efficiently and practically from microalgae for mass production. It appears that methods have been developed to simplify the steps and extract β-carotene directly and efficiently. Multiple studies have shown that extracts or whole organism of microalgae containing β-carotene have activities to promote lifespan in lab animals and reduce oxidative stress in culture cells, etc. Nevertheless, more studies are warranted to study the health benefits and functional mechanisms of β-carotene in these microalgae extracts, which may benefit human and animal health in the future.
β-胡萝卜素是类胡萝卜素家族的一员，是一种维生素A原，可转化为维生素A（视黄醇），而维生素A在动物体生理功能调节中发挥着重要作用。微藻能合成包括β-胡萝卜素在内的多种类胡萝卜素，是天然β-胡萝卜素的丰富来源。这引起了学术界和生物技术产业研究人员的关注。人们已对从微藻中富集或纯化β-胡萝卜素的方法进行了研究，并开展了实验以了解含β-胡萝卜素的微藻产品的生物学功能。为了更好地了解利用微藻生产β-胡萝卜素和其他类胡萝卜素的情况，我们于2021年8月在PubMed上搜索了近期聚焦于微藻类胡萝卜素含量、从微藻中生产β-胡萝卜素的提取方法以及微藻β-胡萝卜素生物活性的研究。在此对发表于同行评审科学期刊上的文章进行了识别、筛选和总结。到目前为止，已在不同类型的微藻中鉴定并提取出了各种类型和数量的类胡萝卜素。随着时间的推移，已开发出多种方法来高效且切实地从微藻中提取β-胡萝卜素以进行大规模生产。似乎已经开发出了简化步骤并直接高效提取β-胡萝卜素的方法。多项研究表明，含β-胡萝卜素的微藻提取物或整个生物体具有延长实验动物寿命以及降低培养细胞氧化应激等活性。然而，仍需要更多研究来探究这些微藻提取物中β-胡萝卜素对健康的益处和作用机制，这可能在未来有益于人类和动物健康。
