Title: associate professor in plant physiology
Association/Company: Università di Verona
Speech session
Ingredienti di origine algale e nuove integrazioni negli alimenti
Speech
Novel biotechnological approaches for the production of carotenoids in microalgae and cyanobacteria
Abstract
Carotenoids constitute a widely distributed group of lipid-soluble pigments that are synthesized by plants and microorganisms: these pigments are essential in the human diet, being involved in eye disease prevention and being precursors for vitamin production. Microalgae are photosynthetic unicellular organisms that can be exploited at the industrial level to convert CO2 into biomolecules of interest, among which are carotenoids. Here, novel biotechnological approaches are presented to produce carotenoids with different industrial applications, such as astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin.
