Algal biotechnology for pursuing omega-3 fatty acid (bioactive) production

Algae are spread in diversified ecosystems that include marine, freshwater, desert and hot springs and even snow and ice environments. Algae are classified as multicellular large sea weeds (macroalgae) or unicellular microalgae. Macroalgae are targeted for mining of natural biologically activecomponents,which includeproteins, linearpeptides, cyclic peptides, and amino acids. Recently, microalgae have been exploited for the production of high-value compounds such as lipids (omega-3 fatty acids), enzymes, polymers, toxins, antioxidants, and pigments (carotenoids). Thus, algal biotechnology is defined as ‘the technology developed using algae (macro or micro) tomake or modify bioactive compounds, or products (nutritional supplements,finechemicals) andrenewable fuels for specificuse’.