Natural compounds derived from algae have become valuable chemical components in cosmetic products as well as food based ingredients. The market need for such chemicals could be large due to the number of products these type of chemicals could be placed in. Concurrently and in the past, many of the chemical and physical properties that cosmetic based products needed were satisfied by petroleum based side products. More natural based compounds are finding their way into an increasing number of cosmetic products and are much healthier alternatives. They impart similar properties while also having a biodegradable nature and most importantly are not harmful to human health. Common petroleum byproducts such as sodium lauryl sulfate are still commonly used in cosmetic products and also have some degree of toxicity to human health. The type of compounds that could be used in health or food based products are known as exopolysaccharides and are common to a variety of algae as well as microbial species. Much research has been done to show that exopolysaccharides have excellent properties used for applications such as surfactants, stabilizers, thickeners and emulsifiers. Exopolysaccharides are excreted extracellularly from algae and microbial cells and can accumulate at fairly high concentrations in media at around a gram per liter or higher. Exopolysaccharides are already used in industries such as paints, textiles, paper and laundry products. EPS are effective agents used in manufacturing processes that contain emulsions or materials that are needed for coagulation/flocculation processes where EPS assist other materials collect and sediment to the bottom of a solution.
Cultivation conditions creating exopolysaccharides could be applied towards the industries of biofuel, bioenergy and biomaterials products. It has been expressed that spirulina could be used to produce biogas as a material used in Anaerobic Digestion processes. Spirulina could be cultivated for exopolysaccharides before its use in Anaerobic Digesters. Extraction of exopolysaccharides could also apply towards biofuel production since large amounts of algae are required to manufacture biofuels, a large amount of exopolysaccharides could be produced as well. Other possible materials that could be extracted from these production processes are the associated photosynthetic pigments called phycocyanins highly common with cyanobacteria and specific omega-3 fatty acids such as DHA and EPA commonly found in fish species also which can help with heart related conditions. Phycocyanin pigments that are commonly exctracted and sold as supplements are zeaxanthin, lutein and astaxanthin. Algae is also beginning to be used in specific pharmaceutical formulations which recover certain types of extracts for purposes such as anti-viral activity. In fact a spirulina based supplement called calcium spirulan exhibits anti-viral activity against diseases such as HIV-1 and Herpes Simples. These pigments such as lutein can also be used as colorants in foods, cosmetics or other products. In fact, salmon are often fed these type of supplements in their feed in order to exhibit a nice pinkish color that is commonly seen after harvesting. The cultivation of algae can be tied to several industries where various side products such as expolysaccharides and photosynthetic pigments can be extracted and implemented into other products or health supplements. This type of manufacturing mindset would help to offset the cost of production in such industries like biofuels manufacture.
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KEYWORDS: Exopolysaccharides, Phycocyanins, DHA EPA omega 3 fatty acids, lutein, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, spirulina, cyanobacteria, calcium-spirulan, emulsifiers, flocculating agents, anti-viral supplements, algae health supplements, PHB bioplastic, algae byproducts in cosmetics
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