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Updated: Jul 16, 2025

Cultivation of Green Microalgae in Bubble Column Photobioreactors and an Assay for Neutral Lipids
Published on: January 7, 2019
Microalgae: potential novel protein for sustainable human nutrition
Ellen Williamson1, Ian L Ross2, Benjamin T Wall3
1Department of Public Health and Sports Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK; Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
Abstract:
To support a global population of ~10 billion people in 2050, dietary protein demand is forecast to increase 32-78% compared to 2017, requiring significantly higher planetary resources. Microalgae are an attractive sustainable protein source compared with current plant and animal sources. Benefits include mass scalability, low CO2 emissions, and significantly reduced land and freshwater use per unit protein. Microalgae are already used as food products and numerous species exhibit high total protein contents and well-balanced essential amino acid (EAA) compositions for human dietary requirements. Microalgae proteins are also bioavailable for human digestion, and downstream processing steps are likely to further enhance protein digestibility. Species, cultivation, and process/product optimisation are actively being developed to enhance their nutritional, social, and environmental benefits.
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