at the commercial and industrial sector to harness the growing demands. The chapter
gives the overview of different bioactive compounds produced by microalgae which
have a wide range of application in different kinds of industries.
Keywords Anticancerous, Anti-inflammatory, Antimicrobial, Antioxidants,
Bioactive compounds, Microalgae
1 Introduction
All around the world, research has been initiated to develop greener technologies for
the production of substances that are not only beneficial to the environment but also
to the human health. Thus, a substantial amount of study has been focused on
utilizing natural resources for producing bioactive compounds as compared to the
traditional synthetic approach [1]. Utilizing greener technologies or natural sources
for production of value added compounds makes the entire process cost-effective,
sustainable, and recyclable and eco-friendly [2]. Recently, microalgae have attracted
a lot of attention as a potential candidate for the continuous and sustainable production of several different bioactive compounds [3]. Microalgae are a group of
prokaryotic and eukaryotic photosynthetic organism found both in freshwater and
marine environment. For more than hundred years, these microalgae have been used
as food, fodder, fertilizer, and a source of variety of chemicals [4]. Additionally, they
can be a very intriguing source of natural compounds with very high biological
activity that could be successfully used in different industrial sectors. As a matter of
fact, when these microalgae are exposed to adverse environmental conditions like
changes in temperature, salinity, nutrient, etc., they secrete a wide variety of
functional, biologically active secondary metabolites, and other substances like
proteins, pigments, polyphenol, antioxidants, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins,
polysaccharides, and natural plant growth hormones such as cytokinin, gibberellins,
and auxin to survive which most of the organisms are not capable of [5]. Table 1
summarizes some of the important bioactive compounds produced from different
types of algae. These natural bioactive compounds produced from microalgae are
fascinating researchers as they have immense potentiality for commercialization in
the coming future because of their prospective therapeutic activities such as antiviral,
antifungal, antibacterial, anti-malarial, anti-inflammatory effects, and other applications in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries [6]. Table 2 lists the biological
activity of some of the compounds secreted by microalgae. Apart from these
benefits, microalgae also have the advantage of simple and effortless cultivation,
rapid growth, and feasibility of regulating the production of bioactive compounds by
exploiting the culture conditions. Although microalgae have a lot of advantages, still
a large number of bioactive compounds from them remain unexplored. Among the
thousands of microalgal species that are present universally, very few have been
studied and utilized for the production of bioactive compounds. According to a
162
S. Sinha et al.
gives the overview of different bioactive compounds produced by microalgae which
have a wide range of application in different kinds of industries.
Keywords Anticancerous, Anti-inflammatory, Antimicrobial, Antioxidants,
Bioactive compounds, Microalgae
1 Introduction
All around the world, research has been initiated to develop greener technologies for
the production of substances that are not only beneficial to the environment but also
to the human health. Thus, a substantial amount of study has been focused on
utilizing natural resources for producing bioactive compounds as compared to the
traditional synthetic approach [1]. Utilizing greener technologies or natural sources
for production of value added compounds makes the entire process cost-effective,
sustainable, and recyclable and eco-friendly [2]. Recently, microalgae have attracted
a lot of attention as a potential candidate for the continuous and sustainable production of several different bioactive compounds [3]. Microalgae are a group of
prokaryotic and eukaryotic photosynthetic organism found both in freshwater and
marine environment. For more than hundred years, these microalgae have been used
as food, fodder, fertilizer, and a source of variety of chemicals [4]. Additionally, they
can be a very intriguing source of natural compounds with very high biological
activity that could be successfully used in different industrial sectors. As a matter of
fact, when these microalgae are exposed to adverse environmental conditions like
changes in temperature, salinity, nutrient, etc., they secrete a wide variety of
functional, biologically active secondary metabolites, and other substances like
proteins, pigments, polyphenol, antioxidants, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins,
polysaccharides, and natural plant growth hormones such as cytokinin, gibberellins,
and auxin to survive which most of the organisms are not capable of [5]. Table 1
summarizes some of the important bioactive compounds produced from different
types of algae. These natural bioactive compounds produced from microalgae are
fascinating researchers as they have immense potentiality for commercialization in
the coming future because of their prospective therapeutic activities such as antiviral,
antifungal, antibacterial, anti-malarial, anti-inflammatory effects, and other applications in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries [6]. Table 2 lists the biological
activity of some of the compounds secreted by microalgae. Apart from these
benefits, microalgae also have the advantage of simple and effortless cultivation,
rapid growth, and feasibility of regulating the production of bioactive compounds by
exploiting the culture conditions. Although microalgae have a lot of advantages, still
a large number of bioactive compounds from them remain unexplored. Among the
thousands of microalgal species that are present universally, very few have been
studied and utilized for the production of bioactive compounds. According to a
162
S. Sinha et al.