Effective production of fermentable sugars from brown macroalgae biomass

Brown macroalgae are renewable and sustainable biomass resources for the production of biofuels and chemicals, owing to their high levels of carbohydrates and low levels of lignin. To increase the biological usage of brown macroalgae, it is necessary to depolymerize the polysaccharides that generate macroalgal monomeric sugars or sugar derivatives and to convert them into fermentable sugars for the production of biofuels and chemicals. In this review, we discuss the chemical and enzymatic saccharification of the major carbohydrates found in brown macroalgae and the use of the resulting constituents in the production of biofuels and chemicals, as well as high-value health-benefiting functional oligosaccharides and sugars. We also discuss recently reported experimental results, novel enzymes, and technological breakthroughs that are related to polysaccharide depolymerization, fermentable sugar production, and the biological conversion of non-favorable sugars for fermentation using industrial microorganisms. This review provides a comprehensive perspective of the efficient utilization of brown macroalgae as renewable resources for the production of biofuels and chemicals.