Microalgal Nanobiotechnology and Its Applications—A …
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and high biomass productivity with a less cultivation time. They have high ability
for heavy metal detoxification and also can produce varieties of important metabolites capable of nanoparticles fabrication (Ahmad et al. 2011). Algae generally do not
require complex carbon and nitrogen sources for their growth. They utilize sunlight as
source of energy, carbon dioxide as carbon source, and ammonium salts as nitrogen
source. Hence, they are economic for nanotechnological processes in large scales
(Ebrahiminezhad et al. 2014). The study of algae-mediated biosynthesis of nanomaterials is termed as phyconanotechnology (Sharma et al. 2016). The evolvement of
nanobiotechnology had tremendously increase the popularity of nanotechnology as
it attracted attentions of many researchers to the field which had led to the productions of varieties of biosynthesized nanomaterials with a wide range of applications.
This article, therefore, reviewed various biosynthetic procedures involving the use
of many microalgal species for nanoparticles production. The potential applications
of nanomaterials fabricated through this process are also summarized.
2 Microalgae in Biotechnology
They are primitive microscopic plants that are present in aquatic and terrestrial
ecosystems, representing a diverse variety of species. They can grow rapidly with
a minimum growth requirement of sunlight, atmospheric CO 2 , and a few common
mineral salts to reproduce their biomass. Unlike higher plants, microalgae grow
extremely rapidly. They double their mass on average ten times faster than higher
plants. They have very promising applications for a large number of biotechnological
areas, including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, nutrition, food additives, aquaculture,
and pollution control such as wastewater treatment (Mata et al. 2010; Ahmad et al.
2011; von Alvensleben and Heimann 2018; Rizwan et al. 2018; Xiong et al. 2018;
Schulze et al. 2019). Microalgae produce many high value products including fatty
acids, protein, carbohydrates, pigments, enzymes, and microalgal biomass, which
are considered a healthy food supply (García et al. 2017; Molino et al. 2018; Galasso
et al. 2019; Matos et al. 2020). Their lipids and carbohydrates can be further converted
into biofuel. They are considered as an alternative renewable biofuel because of their
very rapid growth rate and higher photosynthetic efficiency (Milano et al. 2016;
Shuba and Kifle 2018; Menegazzo and Fonseca 2019). They are also an important
for phycoremediation of toxic metals (Abinandan et al. 2018; Batool et al. 2019; Li
et al. 2019; Naveed et al. 2019).
Two microalgae species, Chlorella and Spirulina, dominated the microalgal
market food (Salati et al. 2017; Soni et al. 2017; Sathasivam et al. 2019), due to their
high protein content and nutritive value. Their biomass is sold as tablets, capsules,
and liquids. They can be used as a nutritional supplement or as a source of natural
food colorants (Salim et al. 2019; Tang et al. 2020). Also, some microalgal species
have good health-promoting effects, like protection against renal failure, alleviation
of hyperlipidemia, suppression of hypertension, enhancement of intestinal Lactobacillus growth, suppression of elevated serum glucose level, promotion of mental
235
and high biomass productivity with a less cultivation time. They have high ability
for heavy metal detoxification and also can produce varieties of important metabolites capable of nanoparticles fabrication (Ahmad et al. 2011). Algae generally do not
require complex carbon and nitrogen sources for their growth. They utilize sunlight as
source of energy, carbon dioxide as carbon source, and ammonium salts as nitrogen
source. Hence, they are economic for nanotechnological processes in large scales
(Ebrahiminezhad et al. 2014). The study of algae-mediated biosynthesis of nanomaterials is termed as phyconanotechnology (Sharma et al. 2016). The evolvement of
nanobiotechnology had tremendously increase the popularity of nanotechnology as
it attracted attentions of many researchers to the field which had led to the productions of varieties of biosynthesized nanomaterials with a wide range of applications.
This article, therefore, reviewed various biosynthetic procedures involving the use
of many microalgal species for nanoparticles production. The potential applications
of nanomaterials fabricated through this process are also summarized.
2 Microalgae in Biotechnology
They are primitive microscopic plants that are present in aquatic and terrestrial
ecosystems, representing a diverse variety of species. They can grow rapidly with
a minimum growth requirement of sunlight, atmospheric CO 2 , and a few common
mineral salts to reproduce their biomass. Unlike higher plants, microalgae grow
extremely rapidly. They double their mass on average ten times faster than higher
plants. They have very promising applications for a large number of biotechnological
areas, including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, nutrition, food additives, aquaculture,
and pollution control such as wastewater treatment (Mata et al. 2010; Ahmad et al.
2011; von Alvensleben and Heimann 2018; Rizwan et al. 2018; Xiong et al. 2018;
Schulze et al. 2019). Microalgae produce many high value products including fatty
acids, protein, carbohydrates, pigments, enzymes, and microalgal biomass, which
are considered a healthy food supply (García et al. 2017; Molino et al. 2018; Galasso
et al. 2019; Matos et al. 2020). Their lipids and carbohydrates can be further converted
into biofuel. They are considered as an alternative renewable biofuel because of their
very rapid growth rate and higher photosynthetic efficiency (Milano et al. 2016;
Shuba and Kifle 2018; Menegazzo and Fonseca 2019). They are also an important
for phycoremediation of toxic metals (Abinandan et al. 2018; Batool et al. 2019; Li
et al. 2019; Naveed et al. 2019).
Two microalgae species, Chlorella and Spirulina, dominated the microalgal
market food (Salati et al. 2017; Soni et al. 2017; Sathasivam et al. 2019), due to their
high protein content and nutritive value. Their biomass is sold as tablets, capsules,
and liquids. They can be used as a nutritional supplement or as a source of natural
food colorants (Salim et al. 2019; Tang et al. 2020). Also, some microalgal species
have good health-promoting effects, like protection against renal failure, alleviation
of hyperlipidemia, suppression of hypertension, enhancement of intestinal Lactobacillus growth, suppression of elevated serum glucose level, promotion of mental