20.3.3.3 Facts and Options in Relation to Marine Microalgal Production
in the Alboran Sea
As in any economic activity, marine microalgal aquaculture must identify and work
with products which are economically feasible to generate and are also accepted or
demanded by the market. With the current knowledge and in the short term, selecting
high-value products from microalgal biomass seems to be the best option. Integrating such a kind of compounds with others of different economical value produced by
the same microalgal source represents an ideal situation for best use of the biomass.
However, achieving this goal, after some years of study, seems complicated in the
short term due to the little success obtained at the moment with the biorefinery
strategy (Gifuni et al. 2018). It has also to be stressed that the need for specific
culture medium conditions when the product is destined to human consumption
(Enzing et al. 2014) demands special quality standards for nutrients. Current
microalgal aquaculture in south Spain is characterized by a growing industry
focusing on the generation of elevated value products derived from highly controlled
phototrophic production systems. This particular aquaculture sector is led by the
company Fitoplancton Marino (Fig. 20.14) which, among other products, is commercializing a new product based on the marine microalgae Tetraselmis that has
achieved the novel food recognition (Picó et al. 2013), and it is characterized by the
Fig. 20.14 Outdoor photobioreactors for culturing microalgae from Fitoplancton Marino
Co. (photo by Carlos Unamunzaga)
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A. Ortega et al.
in the Alboran Sea
As in any economic activity, marine microalgal aquaculture must identify and work
with products which are economically feasible to generate and are also accepted or
demanded by the market. With the current knowledge and in the short term, selecting
high-value products from microalgal biomass seems to be the best option. Integrating such a kind of compounds with others of different economical value produced by
the same microalgal source represents an ideal situation for best use of the biomass.
However, achieving this goal, after some years of study, seems complicated in the
short term due to the little success obtained at the moment with the biorefinery
strategy (Gifuni et al. 2018). It has also to be stressed that the need for specific
culture medium conditions when the product is destined to human consumption
(Enzing et al. 2014) demands special quality standards for nutrients. Current
microalgal aquaculture in south Spain is characterized by a growing industry
focusing on the generation of elevated value products derived from highly controlled
phototrophic production systems. This particular aquaculture sector is led by the
company Fitoplancton Marino (Fig. 20.14) which, among other products, is commercializing a new product based on the marine microalgae Tetraselmis that has
achieved the novel food recognition (Picó et al. 2013), and it is characterized by the
Fig. 20.14 Outdoor photobioreactors for culturing microalgae from Fitoplancton Marino
Co. (photo by Carlos Unamunzaga)
684
A. Ortega et al.