Dunaliella salina Biorefinary: An Evaluation of the State-of-the-Art

Abstract

Biorefinery is an important concept that can be applied to improve the industrial processes, making them more sustainable, and reducing waste, and costs of operation. Algal biomass is too onerous to be exploited, and only a few microalgae have products that are feasible to commercialize. Combining this concept and other ones, such as intensification and integration procedures, can also help reduce the costs and become more attractive to industries. Dunaliella salina is one of the most critical microalgae studied nowadays. Currently, its process exploits only 10% of its compounds in beta-carotene production. Studies show that different compounds can be exploited and the processes can be combined in a biorefinery approach.