472
F. Md. Yusoff et al.
canthaxanthin, β-carotene and phycobiliproteins are still limited by production technologies. More research and innovation for cost-effective pigments production and
applications in improving growth and health in aquatic organisms are important for
a sustainable aquaculture industry.
Keywords Microalgae · Pigments · Carotenoids · Astaxanthin · Fucoxanthin ·
Phycobiliproteins · Aquaculture
19.1 Aquaculture and Microalgae—The Current Status
Aquaculture is one of the main elements of sustainable development goals 14
(SDG14) that emphasizes on conservation and sustainable use aquatic resources
for sustainable development. Aquaculture together with fisheries forms the core for
the food security, nutrition and health of the global population. Fish accounted 17%
of the animal protein consumed by the global population. In fact, with the stagnation
of capture fisheries, aquaculture continues to grow at an impressive pace exceeding
those of other food production sectors. Global aquaculture production including
plants in 2016 was 110.2 million tonnes valued at USD243.5 billion (FAO 2018).
Although its annual growth rates declined from 9.5% (1990s) to 10.5% (1980s) to
only 5.8% between 2001 and 2016, aquaculture annual growth rate is still the highest
among the global major food production sectors. The demand for aquaculture products keeps growing as reflected in the fish consumption pattern that grew from 9.0 kg
per capita in 1961 to 20.5 kg in 2017 (FAO 2018).
However, aquaculture industry is still faced with serious problems related to nutritional health such as poor growth and survival in hatchery and grow-out ponds, vulnerability to diseases, and poor production. Feeds in aquaculture is the highest item of the
production cost, but in some cases are still substandard and do not improve the culture
production. In fact, the use of fish meal in aquaculture is one of the unsustainable
practices with high carbon footprint. Thus, it is very important to improve the aquaculture nutrition using highly nutritious feed, high in health-promoting substances
such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and carotenoids, and yet its production
is environmentally friendly.
Microalgae are a valuable source of highly nutritive polyunsaturated fatty acids
(PUFA) such as docosahexaenoic (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and other
omega-3 fatty acids which are high in antioxidants and suitable for immune
enhancement in humans and animals (Natrah et al. 2007; Park et al. 2018).
Microalgae produce a variety of biomolecules including pigments such as chlorophylls, carotenoids, phycobiliproteins and phenolic compounds (Koller et al. 2014).
In fact, most species of microalgae have high protein contents that can be valuable sources of protein concentrates, hydrolysates and bioactive peptides. These
protein-based products, together with highly nutritive fatty acids and pigments, make
microalgae valuable sources for the development of functional, nutritional, therapeutic and cosmeceutical commodities (Soto-Sierra et al. 2018; Farahin et al. 2019).
F. Md. Yusoff et al.
canthaxanthin, β-carotene and phycobiliproteins are still limited by production technologies. More research and innovation for cost-effective pigments production and
applications in improving growth and health in aquatic organisms are important for
a sustainable aquaculture industry.
Keywords Microalgae · Pigments · Carotenoids · Astaxanthin · Fucoxanthin ·
Phycobiliproteins · Aquaculture
19.1 Aquaculture and Microalgae—The Current Status
Aquaculture is one of the main elements of sustainable development goals 14
(SDG14) that emphasizes on conservation and sustainable use aquatic resources
for sustainable development. Aquaculture together with fisheries forms the core for
the food security, nutrition and health of the global population. Fish accounted 17%
of the animal protein consumed by the global population. In fact, with the stagnation
of capture fisheries, aquaculture continues to grow at an impressive pace exceeding
those of other food production sectors. Global aquaculture production including
plants in 2016 was 110.2 million tonnes valued at USD243.5 billion (FAO 2018).
Although its annual growth rates declined from 9.5% (1990s) to 10.5% (1980s) to
only 5.8% between 2001 and 2016, aquaculture annual growth rate is still the highest
among the global major food production sectors. The demand for aquaculture products keeps growing as reflected in the fish consumption pattern that grew from 9.0 kg
per capita in 1961 to 20.5 kg in 2017 (FAO 2018).
However, aquaculture industry is still faced with serious problems related to nutritional health such as poor growth and survival in hatchery and grow-out ponds, vulnerability to diseases, and poor production. Feeds in aquaculture is the highest item of the
production cost, but in some cases are still substandard and do not improve the culture
production. In fact, the use of fish meal in aquaculture is one of the unsustainable
practices with high carbon footprint. Thus, it is very important to improve the aquaculture nutrition using highly nutritious feed, high in health-promoting substances
such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and carotenoids, and yet its production
is environmentally friendly.
Microalgae are a valuable source of highly nutritive polyunsaturated fatty acids
(PUFA) such as docosahexaenoic (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and other
omega-3 fatty acids which are high in antioxidants and suitable for immune
enhancement in humans and animals (Natrah et al. 2007; Park et al. 2018).
Microalgae produce a variety of biomolecules including pigments such as chlorophylls, carotenoids, phycobiliproteins and phenolic compounds (Koller et al. 2014).
In fact, most species of microalgae have high protein contents that can be valuable sources of protein concentrates, hydrolysates and bioactive peptides. These
protein-based products, together with highly nutritive fatty acids and pigments, make
microalgae valuable sources for the development of functional, nutritional, therapeutic and cosmeceutical commodities (Soto-Sierra et al. 2018; Farahin et al. 2019).